Tales From the Train: an Anthology
by TheInkredibleKaptainKaiju
Summary: A reflection with no prime. A woman with a goal that could threaten everything. A girl with a number that is far too large. And at the center of it all, a train to nowhere and back.
1. The Funhouse Mirror Car

Tales From the Train: an Anthology

* * *

Part 1: Chapters 1-10

Part 2: Chapters 11-?

* * *

Part 1: Primeless/

Chapter 1: The Funhouse Mirror Car

* * *

"Kid...Hey, kid, look at me." His voice was rough and gravelly, even when he was trying to be gentle.

"Hmm?" I looked up from the officer's desk. It had one of those Newton's cradle thingies-I always loved those. Even though it wasn't moving, I was still transfixed. But, to be honest, I had another reason for not making eye contact with him: he had no eyes. I could understand wanting to distance yourself from your prime, but why did these officers have to get rid of their entire face?

He sighed, shaking his head. "Look, I know losing your prime can be a traumatic event. Everything you were just...goes away. Your entire reason for being, just-" He snapped his fingers. "-like that. Trust me, I know how it feels."

He had a point, all things considered. I was trying not to think about it too much. "Excuse me, Mr…?"

"Crucible," the Mirror Cop replied. "Agent Crucible."

"Right. Well, Agent Crucible, I was thinking...with my prime gone and everything, I don't suppose I could just-you know-hang out here for a while?"

Agent Crucible sighed again. He stood up from his chair, looking out the window at the silver town outside. "You know the rules, son," he said. "Either you join the force, or you pick a new prime."

Neither option was particularly pleasant, to be honest. "Are you sure? Because I'm pretty sure I know quite a few gents who didn't do either."

"You mean slivers?" Darn, he called my bluff. "Son, you don't seem to be the type to associate with slivers."

"Er, I don't," I said, trying to salvage the conversation in my favor. "But look: What if I were to become a...er, an informant, or something? I can keep my memories, and inform you on what's happening out in the prime world! It's like a win-win!"

Agent Crucible shook his head. "Not how that works, kiddo. It's either an agent, or a new prime. Or dust."

"Well, that seems like a silly rule," I said. "Who came up with that, anyhow?"

"That's beside the point," he said. "It's been three days now. Really, you should have made your choice already."

"Crucie, I don't mean to be rude, but-"

Crucible interrupted me, slamming his fist down on his desk. I jumped. "Enough of your games! Alrick is dead! No Alrick, no reflection." He sat back down in his chair. "I know it's hard to hear, but he doesn't need you anymore."

"B-but I'm his reflection!" I stammered, desperately trying to buy myself more time. "What if he-he comes back as a zombie, or something? If that zombie stands in front of a mirror, who'll reflect him then if I'm gone?"

Crucible placed his head in his hand, massaging where his eyebrows would have been. "Why do I always get the difficult ones?" he mumbled, probably thinking I couldn't hear him. Or not caring. "How about this: I'll give you one week. You have seven days, starting right..._now_." The clock hanging on the wall chirped to signify that it was now three o'clock. "In that time, you'll have to make your decision. After that, I'll have no choice but to label you as a sliver. Understand?"

Reluctantly, I nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good," he said. "You're dismissed. I hope to hear from you before then."

* * *

As I stepped out of the Mirror Police department, thoughts raced through my head like a thousand motorbikes-er, not the best metaphor, all things considered. Nevertheless, Agent Crucible was right. But how was I supposed to decide?

Option A: have my memory erased, and become someone else's reflection. To be honest, this would be the easiest, but I still had my doubts. New body, new memories-how was this any different from being sanded?

Option B: become an officer, maintaining peace and order in the Mirror World. True, I would get to keep my memories, but it just seemed way too dangerous for my liking. Alrick may have been an adrenaline junkie, but I certainly wasn't. Hunting down slivers, both in and out of the Mirror World? I could never do something like that. Plus, the idea of sanding someone-_yeesh_!

Option C: go on the run from the police, and become a sliver. This one was definitely out.

I paced back and forth, weighing my options. What was more valuable to me? My freedom, or my identity? After what seemed like far too long to be pacing in front of the station, it hit me. And by 'it,' I mean the front door, which was swung open quite hard, colliding with my noggin. I fell to the floor, dazed.

In my confused state, I wondered if reflections could get brain damage. After I decided that they couldn't I heard two voices speaking to each other. No doubt these two were the ones who had flung open the door. I looked up to see what was going on.

"I don't care _how_ your prime died, that doesn't give you the right to ransack our records room to try and 'change the files!' What's the matter with you!?" The first speaker was female, but that was her only noteworthy trait. Er, that came out wrong. Please don't take that out of context. By that, I meant that she was an agent, and thus had no distinguishing marks.

"Aw, come on, you guys are no fun!" said the other. He was quite a large man, with jeans, a thick, bushy beard, and a tight-fitting shirt. The bloke looked like a lumberjack on his day off. "Why do you always gotta take these things so seriously?"

"Because taking prime-reflection relationships seriously is our _job_!" said the officer. "Now you march yourself straight down to the recycling plant, and think about what you've done, bub! Either that, or sign up for wiping. But still think about what you've done!" She turned around and went back inside the building, slamming the door behind her. Before it closed, I could see that she had a large crack running down the side of her face.

"Hmmph. Buzzkill," the man said, dusting himself off. "Eh? What's this? What're you doing down there?" He had finally noticed me. He reached down a hand to help me to my feet, almost sending me to the moon in the process. "What's good, man?"

"Not much, I'm afraid," I said. "It seems like we're in the same boat."

"Really?" he said. "So, your prime died on the toilet and you snuck into the records room to change it to something more dignified, too?"

Well, _that_ was a new one. "Er, no," I said. "I just meant that both our primes are dead."

"Ah, yeah, that makes a bit more sense," he said. "But man, what a crazy coincidence that would have been, huh?" he laughed. "Oh, I'm Charlie, by the way, but everyone calls me Chaz. At least, my prime was called Chaz before he-well, you know." He held out his hand. Who was I to refuse such an offer?

The two of us shook hands. "I'm Alrick," I said. "Likewise."

"So, what's your next big plan in life?" he said, putting his hands in his pockets. "You gettin' recycled, or becomin' a flec? No offense, but you seem a bit more like the 'get recycled' type to me."

"None taken," I told him, even if I did take a little bit. "Honestly, I'm still on the fence."

"Yeah, same here," he said. "I was thinkin' 'bout gettin' recycled, to be honest. Not too appealing, but at least I won't have to work for the man."

"Yeah, yeah," I said. My mind had just picked up another troubling factor about my predicament: where was _she_ in all of this? How had Alrick's death affected her? I hadn't seen her in days.

'Chaz' was apparently more insightful than I had pegged him for. "Hey, you alright, man?" he said. "You don't look so hot."

"Oh, it's nothing," I lied. Just trying to make sense of all this."

"Ah, yeah, I get ya," he said. He went on a sort of rambling monologue, which I didn't pay attention to. Because right then, I saw her. Off in the distance, she rounded a corner, looking around almost as if she was afraid of someone. She had always been shy type, but Alrick's death had really hit her hard. I had to be there for her.

"Yes, thank you, Chaz, but I have to go now," I said. I ran off as he shouted something after me, which I didn't hear. I didn't want to appear rude, but this was more important right now.

"Amelia! Wait, Amelia!" She turned around, looking as though she had just seen a ghost. In a way, I suppose she had.

"A-Alrick," she said, her voice quiet as usual. "You're still here? I thought you had been recycled by this point."

"No, no, not yet," I said, panting from the run. "The Reflection Police...they're giving me one more week to decide."

"I see," she said. "...Alrick, I've been worried about you."

"Y-you were?" I said. Stupid. Of course she was.

"Of course I was," she said. "No offense, but you were never one to take crises well."

"Er...how do you mean?"

She wrung her hands nervously. "It's just that...well, what with your prime dying, I had assumed you'd want to get away from that as soon as possible. So you wouldn't have to deal with it, I mean."

"Okay, but what do you mean by _that_?"

"Hey guys, what'd I miss?" I felt Chaz walk up and place his hand on my shoulder. He nearly threw me aside with his grip! "And who might you be?"

"...A-Amelia," she said, averting her eyes. "I-I have to to go now…"

"Amelia, wait!" I shouted, pushing Chaz's arm off me.

"No, really, I should be going," she said. And she walked off. Obviously, I gave chase.

As bad as losing my prime had been for me, I knew it must have been a hundred times worse for her. She had just lost her fiance, and now her reflection was about to lose hers. Before I made the choice of what I was going to do next, I needed to make sure she was okay with it. After all, it was likely she would never see me again, no matter what I chose.

* * *

After running for quite some time, I realized that she had gone far too...well, far than she should have. We were running at roughly the same speed, but she was nowhere in sight. On top of that, I was in a part of the city I had never even seen before. Was I...moving? No, surely that was just an illusion or something.

Speaking of illusions, this area, wherever it was, was filled up with mirrors of all shapes and sizes. I had never seen so many windows into the prime dimension in one place before, except at a...house of mirrors, aha! That must be where we are! But why had Amelia gone to a carnival at a time like this? Trying to take her mind off things, perhaps?

Alrick had only been to a house of mirrors like this once or twice, but it was memorable enough to know that this was different. Back then, I got all distorted when he stepped in front of them. But this time, nothing happened. I think it was because I didn't have a prime standing in front of the mirrors.

Then, I saw her again. She, like we had been before, was stretched out by the trick mirrors. "Amelia, there you are!" I said, heading over to her.

"What?" Her head snapped in my direction like she hadn't expected to see me. It wasn't like I just startled her, either; she just kept staring. Not at me, either. More like slightly to my left.

"I'm glad I caught up to you," I said. "Listen, I know this has been just as hard for you as it has been for me. I just had a few things I needed to discuss."

Still maintaining her shocked expression, her eyes darted to her left, before focusing back on me. "Alrick, now really isn't the best time!" she hissed out of the corner of her mouth.

"Why?" I asked. And then it hit me: when I looked in the direction she had, I noticed her prime through one of the mirrors, staring directly at me.

Oops.

"Alrick, is...is that you?" asked Prime-Amelia, walking closer to me. She placed her hand on the mirror over me, reflection-Amelia nudging me slightly to the side.

"Uh...I think so," I stammered lamely. I wasn't sure how to handle this situation. Reflections were under no circumstances to speak with primes unless it was an emergency, and I was in enough trouble already.

"Are you...a ghost?"

"No, nononono," I quickly assured her. "I'm not even really Alrick, just his reflection."

Prime-Amelia didn't seem to like that answer. Her expression fell as she backed away. "You...you're just another one of this awful train's tricks, then?"

"What? No, of course I-wait, train? We're on a train?" I truly had no idea what she meant.

She seemed to like this answer even less than the last one. Without another word, she just shook her head, and turned away.

Once again, I ran after her. "Wait, don't go! Please, I just want to talk!"

"There's nothing to talk about," she said. She was out of range of the mirrors, and her reflection continued on. She opened a curious door and walked through. In the brief glimpse I caught of the outside, I saw that we were definitely on a train: I saw the next car and the wilderness passing by, but that was all I could make out. And she was gone.

I sighed, propping myself up against one of the mirrors. Why did I feel the need to do this? Not to be selfish, but I was the one I had to be worried about right now, not her. My prime was the one who died, after all. Prime-Amelia was alive and kicking, nevermind why she was on this strange train.

"Wow. What was all that about?" Chaz.

"It's nothing," I said, shaking my head. "Just a girl I knew."

Once again, he placed an arm around me. "Okay, Al, I know we've only known each other for twenty minutes, if that, but let me offer you some advice, starting with a question: do you love her?"

"I-yes, I do," I answered. "Our primes were engaged."

"Ah, but that's just your primes. Do _you_ love her?"

"Yes," I said. "I do." And I truly did.

"Then let's go see her!" he said. "You did say you had something to tell her, after all."

I thought about this. He may be a bit annoying, but he's right. "Okay," I said, "I'll go."

"That's what I like to hear!" he said, patting me on the back. It felt more like a forceful slap that a friendly pat, but I tried not to let him notice. "It'll be an adventure!"

"You're coming too?" I said.

"Well, we're friends, right?" he said.

"Uh, no," I said. "I hardly know you."

He took me by the shoulder again, leading me after the Amelias. "I always said that strangers are just friends you haven't met yet. Besides, we're kindred spirits! My prime's dead, your prime's dead-we might as well be brothers!"

"That's one way to look at it," I said. Yeah, he was forceful, but he meant well. Besides, if he was going to be going with me, I might as well get used to him. "So, why don't you tell me a little about yourself?"

"Naw," he said, "you first."

"Well, alright," I said. "But that's a bit of a long story…"


	2. The Mountain Car

Chapter 2: The Mountain Car

* * *

Say what you will about Chaz, but at least he's a good listener, as I found out then. I told him about everything that had lead me to where I am: how me and Amelia met, how we fell in love, and how...how my prime had died. Maybe that was why he was so insistent on being my friend-we had something in common.

"Mmm. 'S tragic, what happened to you," he said as we walked. "Someone like that, they-they don't come around too often. Your prime was a man among men, man."

"Uh, thanks," I said. "I always sort of took him for granted. I guess you never really know what you have until it's gone."

Chaz nodded in agreement. "How true."

I looked up at his face. "So, that's my story," I said. "Tell me a little bit more about Chaz. Prime-Chaz, I mean."

I saw a twinge of discomfort on his expression. He opened his mouth to answer, but he suddenly stopped walking when something came into his vision. "Woah. When did _that_ get there?"

It was only now I realized where we had ended up. For the past few minutes, we were just walking in Amelia's general direction, either unaware or uncaring of our surroundings. There before us stood an enormous mountain. Around it was a classic scene of wilderness, a prairie skyline right out of a nature documentary. In front of and around the mountain was a crystal-clear lake, perfectly reflecting the landscape.

"Where did something like this come from, anyway?" said Chaz. "I don't suppose there are any mountains across the pond where you're from?"

"I don't think so," I said. "Not near where I live, at least. Hey, wait-look!"

About halfway to the top of the mountain was Amelia. Why she had decided to climb it was beyond me, but I ran towards her to get her attention. "Amelia! Wait a moment! I just want to talk!" The lake was only about an inch or two deep, so I ran straight to the base of the mountain to call to her. Despite this, she just couldn't hear me. I sighed, giving up.

Chaz walked over to me. "You finished?" he asked. I nodded. "Well, if we wanna get to her, we gotta climb this thing."

"Why can't we just go around it?" I asked.

"Can't," he said. "Look at the sides." I did, and I saw that the beautiful scenery surrounding the mountain was actually a picture, painted on some sort of wall that prevented us from taking the easy way past.

"What the?" I said. "Where are we? Are we still at the same carnival where the hall of mirrors was at?"

"Don't ask me, I know about as much as you do at this point," said Chaz helpfully. "But I _do_ know that if you wanna get the girl, we gotta go up."

I stared up the imposing formation. "Uh…"

Chaz caught me in a crushing side-hug. "Aw, c'mon, man! You act like you've never climbed a mountain before!"

"I _haven't_!" I told him.

He shrugged. "Neither have I. But there's no time like the present!"

* * *

The mountain itself was sloped away from us, so climbing it wasn't as hard as it could have been, especially without any equipment. I told Chaz we should at least look for some, and he made a sort of half-hearted effort. Either way, we started climbing without any ropes of hooks, or anything of that sort.

As I said before, I'm not nearly as much of an adrenaline junkie as my prime was. It's always been my belief that safety supersedes anything else, and that includes momentary thrills. Granted, he thought that too, he was just a bit more lax when it came to life-threatening matters.

"How you holding up down there, little buddy?" Chaz called from above me. Being the veritable giant he was, he had instantly sped up ahead of me as soon as we had begun.

"Uh, sort of!" I called back. "Just...being careful, you know how it is!"

"Yeah, I getcha," he said. "Hey, at least this mountain's not that steep. So if you slip, you'll just tumble to the bottom instead of falling straight down!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, that's comforting," I murmured. I continued working my way higher.

Soon enough, I was surprised to see that Chaz had waited for me. He was just sort of hanging there, watching me as I climbed. "Need a hand?" he asked.

"What are you still doing here?" I asked him. "I would have thought you'd have sped off by now."

"I didn't want to leave you in the dust," he said. "It's not a race. Besides, that's your fiance we're chasing, not mine."

We resumed our climb, now side by side. "You never did tell me about yourself," I said. "Who was Chaz before he died? Did he have a fiance, too?"

Once again, Chaz got that uncomfortable look on his face. "Eh, you don't care about that guy," he said. "He's dead anyway. Let's just keep climbing."

"Alrick's dead too," I said, "and you seemed just fine hearing about him."

"Eh, you wouldn't be interested," he said. "He never really did anything interesting, especially compared to what a genius your prime was."

Something was definitely up here. I'd never met another mirror who didn't want to talk about their prime before, even if they didn't like him or her very much. There was something up here, something he didn't want me to know. The secrecy only inflamed my curiosity, but I didn't want to push too hard. "Okay, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," I said.

"Mmm," he said, focusing on the climb. I would get to the bottom of this, even if it wasn't right now.

We continued climbing for a bit more, this time in silence. To be honest, it was quite uncomfortable, and not just because of my aching muscles. It was really awkward, especially with how awkward Chaz had been up to this point. But mostly because of my muscles.

I had to break the silence. "Chaz, we gotta find somewhere to rest," I begged. "I know you probably can, but I can't keep going on like this."

"Yeah, I feel you," he said. "I'm getting a little tired myself. I see a stick-outy-thingy up ahead where we can take a break."

"You mean an outcropping?"

"Yeah, that." When we reached said outcropping, Chaz pulled himself up onto it first, before lifting me up after him. I'm not ashamed to say I immediately collapsed on my back, panting like a dog. "You alright?"

"Yeah, just a...just a small rest," I said. "We've gotta keep going if we don't want to lose her."

"Yeah," said Chaz. "You two...you're really close, huh?"

"Oh yeah," I said. And we were. Our primes were getting married, and you can't get much closer than that! "See, that's why I'm so hesitant about deciding what to do next. With Alrick's death, she...she needs someone to be there for her."

"Yeah," he said. "I wish I had someone I loved. Or, that Chaz did, I mean."

This was my chance. "You never had anyone?" I asked. "Or, he didn't, rather?"

"Nobody that lasted long," he said. "Uh, anyways, have you thought a bit more about what you're gonna do after you talk to her?"

He changed the subject again. Still, rather than press him further, I decided to play along. "Probably get recycled," I said. "It's the most palatable of the options."

"Yeah, me too," he said. "Losing my memories doesn't sound pleasant, but at least I don't have to be a flec. I'd rather get sanded than join their ranks."

"...Maybe not that far for me, but I'd still rather not," I said. "And I don't even know what they do in those recycling plants."

"I saw how those things work a little while back," Chaz said. "Apparently, they cover you in this weird latex stuff so you're the same shape and size as your new prime, then they heat you up so it becomes permanent."

"Yeesh," I said. "That doesn't sound pleasant."

"It didn't look painful," he said. "And even if it is, you won't remember it anyways."

I nodded, sitting up. "You know what I just realized? You and me, we've probably been recycled at least once before now. Who do you think we used to be?"

"Hard to say," he said with a sigh. "Do they even keep records of that? I feel like they'd have to, right?"

Thinking about it, I could have existed for centuries, maybe even millenia for all I knew. As people died and new ones were born, their reflections could get recycled potentially forever. "Maybe it's best we don't think about it," I said.

Chaz nodded "Agreed. We've got too much on our plate right now to worry about all that existential crap." He got to his feet. "Speaking of which, you ready to get going?"

"How is that speaking of-never mind, I'm ready." I stood up, prepared to renew my attack on this mountain. "So, how much longer until the top?"

Chaz placed his hand over his eyes as he gazed towards the mountain's peak. "I'd say...we're a little under halfway there."

"Oh," I groaned. "Well, no time like the present."

"That's the spirit, bud," he said. "We'll be there in no time, just watch!"

And so, we resumed our ascent. I don't know if it was due to knowing how long we had left or not, but it seemed like the mountain grew even steeper further up. As usual, Chaz didn't have nearly as much trouble with it as I did.

"How...how are you so good at this?" I asked breathlessly. "Did you do a lot of rock climbing, or something?"

"Hardly," he answered. "I barely left the city. Did a lot of lifting, though."

I had another shot. "Which city was that?"

"You know, the big city," he answered. "The big one." It almost seemed like he was climbing faster.

"Which one, New York? There's plenty of cities in the States, you could be from every one of them." Engaged in this conversation-for lack of a better word-I found myself filled with vigor. I climbed faster than I had been before, but Chaz still outclassed me.

"Fine, Chicago, okay?" he said. "I lived almost my whole life in Chicago. Hardly ever left, even to go on vacation. Not like I could…"

"And why not?" I asked. "Did you not have a lot of money?"

"Eh, I was middle of the road." I noticed he had slowed down slightly. "But like I said, it didn't matter."

I almost had him. I sped up even more to reach him, knowing I would regret it once we reached the top. "Why not?"

Chaz turned back to look at me, clearly getting annoyed. "Is it really that important for you to know about me?" he said.

"Considering we're travelling together, and I basically already told you my life's story, I'd say so," I said.

"Well, I'm not like you," he muttered. "I'm not successful, or smart, or have a woman I was gonna marry, or-"

"Chaz, please," I urged. "Just tell me so I-"

"Alright, fine!" he shouted. "You wanna know so bad, I'll tell you! I've never amounted to anything in my life! I hit my ceiling at eighteen, and everything went downhill from there. By twenty, I was on the street, scrounging for whatever I could, pumped full of drugs and booze! Do you see now why maybe, possibly, I wouldn't want someone like you to know that!?"

All I could do for a few seconds was stare at him. Unfortunately for me, this only seemed to inflame his frustration even more. "Chaz, I-I'm sorry, I had no idea."

"Well, now you do!" he said. "And why a guy like you would want to be with a guy like me, I'll never understand." He continued climbing.

"But Chaz, that's not true! I _do_ like you, it's just-"

"It's just _what_?" he snapped. Unfortunately for the both of us, this outburst of his caused his hand to slip off from the rock he was holding, causing him to lose his footing. Before either of us knew what was happening, he was hurtling towards me.

"Chaz!" I yelled. I was able to duck out of the way, and reached out to catch him. I managed to grab onto his arm, but of course, as massive as he was, all this accomplished was pulling me down with him.

There are times in one's life when one just has to realize that there is nothing he or she can do, and must accept their fate. For me, this was one of those moments. I closed my eyes as I fell, feeling sure that this mountain would soon have seven years of bad luck, if you see my meaning. But that did not happen.

What happened instead was, rather than continue falling, I felt a jerk on my arm as I quickly stopped plummeting. After assuring myself that I was indeed safe, I gained the courage to open my eyes; Chaz had caught on to the side of the mountain, holding me up with his other arm.

"Hang on, little buddy! I got you!" Even for someone as strong as him, this looked like it took quite a bit of effort.

"I-I'm alive," I said. "We're alive, you saved us!"

"Not yet I didn't," he said. He indicated further up the mountain, where, to my horror, rocks were beginning to tumble down in our direction.

"Oh, come on!" I exclaimed.

"Tell me about it," he said. "Here, hang on to my neck, I'm gonna need both hands for this one."

I did so, wrapping my arms around him. I held on tight, probably tighter than I probably should have. All of me wanted close my eyes, but for some reason, I didn't. And because of that, I was able to see Chaz expertly dodge and deflect every rock that came our way, all while continuing to make good pace up the side of the mountain, even with me on his back.

It took half an hour, but we eventually got to the top. I can't remember if the boulders ever stopped falling or not-I was too paralyzed with fear to take in any new information for a while. Once we got there, Chaz collapsed to the ground, and I fell down as well. We both lay there for some time, him in exhaustion, and me in shock.

Eventually, I spoke. "I, uh...I can't believe you just did that," I said.

"Me...me neither," he huffed. "And don't ask me to do it again."

"Don't worry, I wouldn't want to go through that again, either," I told him. We shared a brief chuckle.

"Hey, listen," he said. "I'm sorry for snapping at you back there. "I just get a little...testy whenever someone brings that up."

"No, _I'm_ sorry," I said. "I shouldn't have pushed you. I should have let you tell me about your past on your own time."

"No worries, all is forgiven," he said. Slowly sitting up. "Hey, how about we agree that whoever we become after this whole fiasco, we take this lesson to heart."

"But if we get recycled," I said, "how would we remember this?"

"Oh yeah!" he said, laughing. "Forgot all about that!"

I laughed too. "Well, either way, we should get a move on. Amelia's probably long gone by now, so we'll have to get moving if we want to catch up to her. Chaz?" I noticed he was staring over the edge of the mountain, down where we had just come from. I walked over to see. "What, are you enjoying the view?"

Right where we had been, a pair of Reflection Officers stood near a truck. Before I could wonder what the two of them were doing there, Chaz pulled me back from the edge. "Careful, they'll see you!"

"What's this about?" I asked. "Why are they here? And what do you care?"

"Because we aren't getting recycled, dude!" he said. "Those flecs are obviously after us because we're on the run, so if you wanna see your girl again, then we need to move, now!"

At Chaz's urging, both verbally and physically, I moved on. Rather than another side of the mountain, all that rested on the top was another wall, on which was an odd-looking door. "What's this about?" I turned the strange lock, which opened up into another room entirely.

"Whatever it is, that's where Amelia went," Chaz said. "So it's where we're going."

The two of us set off through the door. Just before we left, I made an observation: "Wait a minute...where did all those rocks come from back on the mountain? There was nowhere for them to fall from!"


	3. The Water Park Car

Chapter Three: The Water Park Car

* * *

Soon enough, it became apparent: we were on a train.

Now, I know what you must be wondering right now. 'What sort of train has a mountain on it?' Well, the answer to that is simple: I don't know myself.

How Amelia had got on this train, for that matter, how _we_ did, was beyond either of us. As was what sort of train it was, because it clearly wasn't natural! In addition to the mirror car and the aforementioned mountain car, we crossed through a bunch of others: a cricket car (that is, man-sized crickets playing cricket), a crystal cave car, a fitness car, even a car filled with talking Corgis. Chaz wanted to stay a bit longer in that one, but we eventually headed onward.

Despite all the different cars we went through, none of them had Amelia in them. Climbing that mountain _had_ taken a long time, so she had gained quite some distance on us. We hurried through the cars as fast as we could, but quite a few of them held us up. It was almost as if they were intentionally designed to take some effort to get through, like a puzzle. Nevertheless, Chaz and I usually made short work of these cars.

We had just finished a particularly easy one, involving a gigantic pachinko machine. I'll spare you the exact details, because you'd never look at one of those things again if I told you what went on in there, for better or worse! Anyway, I said to Chaz, "So, what do you make of this whole 'train' thing?"

"I mean, it ain't a normal train," he said. "It's weird, but it seems pretty neat. Why?"

"I mean, what's the story?" I asked. "Why and how would anyone get on a train like this? For that matter, where did it come from? What's its purpose?"

"Beats the heck out of me," he said. "But hey, that's why you're the scientist, and I'm the tag-along funny guy!"

"Something about this place just doesn't feel right," I said. Granted, even without this train's complete disregard for anything resembling the laws of physics, or laws of nature for that matter, something felt...off. I couldn't really describe it. It was almost as if everything was, for lack of a better word, fake. Even if that was true, everything I had seen was pretty realistic.

Of course it doesn't feel right," said Chaz. "We're going on a wacky adventure to get your girlfriend back. But this train? It can't get in the way of true love. So let's get moving!"

"Good idea, Chaz," I said. "Say, why are you so intent on helping me and Amelia get back together?"

"Because that's what friends do," he said confidently. "Besides, I didn't exactly have the best luck with my own love life. It feels good to at least help someone else fulfil theirs, you know?"

"Thanks, Chaz," I said. "It really means a lot."

"Don't mention it," he said. "Anything for a friend. Now, let's see what sort of challenge awaits us next, eh?"

With Chaz leading, we opened the door into the next train car. As soon as it opened, we were greeted by the sound of splashing water and chattering voices. Upon entering the car, I saw what was obviously supposed to be an enormous water park. More swimming pools than I could count made up most of the area within, and above them were dozens and dozens of water slides, all colors of the rainbow, twisting and turning above our heads. It was easily the biggest water park, no, the biggest theme park I had ever seen!

There were a ton of people in here, as well, splashing in the pools and riding the slides. At a glance, I couldn't make out any specific features, but most of them seemed to be humanoid beings made out of some sort of crystal. No, on further inspection, they were made of ice! All of them wore bathing suits of all different colors, creating an almost humorous contrast to their plain bluish-white bodies.

"Well, would you look at this place?" said Chaz. "This looks pretty fun, don't it? And here I was, expecting something dangerous!"

"I wouldn't let your guard down just yet," I warned. "It may look harmless now, but that could change. You remember the candy car?"

"Euch, unfortunately," Chaz said, shuddering. "Well, at least these ice people don't look like the type to eat their own kind, so it already has that going for it. So, shall we?"

"Yeah. Come on, let's go," I said. The two of us walked towards the admission booth, where an ice person waited. "Shoot, do you think we'll have to pay?"

The ice man heard my comment and spoke up. "Hey, you two are passengers, aren't you?" We both confirmed this. "Well hey, luckily for you, passengers get in free!"

"Ah, lucky us indeed!" I said. We thanked him, passing through the turnstile into the park itself; the sounds of these people laughing and playing grew louder as we entered. I looked around at our surroundings. It was only now that the true scale of this park hit me...it was far larger than any water park I had ever seen, as was customary of what the train had thus far offered. It was also quite cluttered, much more so than a park in the real world would have allowed for. The slides, which seemed to be the only attractions save for the pools, twisted around each other in all sorts of crazy patterns, even going upwards at times-yet none of this stopped anyone from riding on them with no issues. Chalk this one up to the train again, I suppose.

"So...you think we're supposed to ride one of these, or what?" asked Chaz. "I mean, there's always more to these cars, right?"

"It's definitely something," I replied. "I doubt the door is just going to be just out in the open for us to stroll through. Maybe it's hidden in one of these pools, or maybe in one of the slides, or…" I stopped.

"Hey, any excuse to go on some water slides is fine by me," he replied. He walked a few feet away, before realizing that I wasn't following him. "You coming? Alrick? Buddy? You okay?"

I pointed out what I had seen to him. "She's here," I said. My voice came out much quieter than I had intended.

Chaz looked out in the direction of my finger. Amelia was also in this car. She was quite far in the distance, preparing to ride down one of the slides. I couldn't see her face from this distance, but she really didn't look like she was having much fun. It looked more like she was riding them out of necessity. She sat down on the red plastic of the slide, and disappeared from view.

"Well? Whattya waiting for?" said Chaz. "This is our chance! Let's go get her, bro!" He patted me roughly on the shoulder, urging me to run towards Amelia. I did so, with him right behind me.

"Amelia! Wait, Amelia!" I shouted after her as I ran. I quickly became winded, though in my defense, it _was_ a greater distance than I assumed. But no matter, as by the time we arrived at where she had been, she was gone. I tried to call for her again. "Amelia! It's me, Alrick! Amelia!" No avail. I sighed, sulking. "No good. She's gone again."

Chaz nudged my arm. "Hey, don't worry about it, bud. As long as she's still in the car, there's still a chance to catch up to her, right? There's still hope!"

I looked up at the top of the slide where she had just been standing. "I know," I said. "It's finding her that'll be the main issue. This place is like a maze!"

Chaz spotted something in the distance. "Well, why don't we get started, then?" I looked over to him, and he pointed out a ladder a few meters down. "I did say any excuse to go on these slides, didn't I?"

"Sure. Let's do it," I said. I walked down to the ladder, climbing up to the top with Chaz right behind me. It was fairly high up, though not to the degree that made me nervous. "Well, here goes nothing…" With that, I sat down and pushed myself down the slide. And I was off.

As much as I hate to admit it, what with the circumstances and all, going down that water slide was exhilarating. I might even go so far as to say it was fun! I had been so focused on other things lately-my prime's death, Amelia's grief, the train-that I hadn't had the time to experience something like this in a while. Not that I had any reason to, but it was a nice change of pace.

The water slide finally deposited me in a pool, with Chaz close behind. "Woo! Now that was a rush, huh? I mean, that was practically a roller coaster!"

"It was quite fast, I'll say that," I said.

"Wait a minute," Chaz said, leaning closer, his eyes narrowing. "Am I delirious from the adrenaline rush, or are you...smiling?"

"Maybe a little bit," I said. He continued to grin at me. "What? It was a fun slide, what's wrong with smiling?"

"Nothing," he said. "I just haven't seen you this happy since...well, ever, actually. It's kind of refreshing!"

"Yeah, just like this hot tub," a voice to our side said. We both turned to see one of the ice people relaxing in a jacuzzi next to our pool. Despite the water's temperature, he didn't seem to be melting. However, it was at this point I realized that both our pool and his hot tub were suspended quite high up in the air, held up by some unknown means. I retreated away from the edge of the pool, just in case. "You two passengers?" he asked.

"Indeed we are," said Chaz. "Me and my buddy here were actually looking for a girl who went by here. You didn't happen to see her, did you?"

"Yeah, she was just here a few minutes ago," he said. "She went up one of those ladders." He pointed out a trio of ladders, each one leading to a different slide. "Can't remember which, though."

"By the way," I said, "we're also looking for the way to the next car. You wouldn't happen to know where that is, do you?"

"Eh, it's somewhere around here," he said. "See, the thing is, you have to take a certain slide to get there. But to get to _that_ slide, you need to take a different slide, so on and so forth. It's like a maze, get it?"

"I see," I said. "Well, thank you for your help." We bid our goodbyes to the friendly iceman before treading water over to the three ladders.

"So, which slide you thinkin'?" asked Chaz. "Green, orange, or blue?"

"Why don't you decide?" I said.

"Orange it is!"

Just as the ice man had said, this entire water park was practically one giant maze. After we exited each slide, we landed in a different pool, each one with its own selection of slides to choose from. Every time we chose wrong, we ended up back in a previous pool, and had to choose again. Some slides even deposited us in the same pool we took them from! After a few tries, it became quite difficult remembering which ones we had already tried, and which ones we still needed to try.

Sometimes, I saw Amelia. Wherever I ended up, she was always just beyond my reach. In a different pool, on a different slide, always too far to hear me call her name. After a while, I could barely keep it straight if we were chasing after the door, or her.

We eventually ended up in another pool that we already knew. "This one again…" I muttered.

"How can you tell? All these pools blend together after a while," said Chaz.

"Because I remember these slides," I said. The three to choose from here were orange, green, and purple. "The three secondary colors."

"Well, let's see…" said Chaz, staring at our options. "How about we try purple?"

"We tried purple the last time we were here," I said.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I kinda feel like we went on orange."

"No, orange was the first one," I replied. "Well, and the fourth and seventh one."

"I thought the fourth one was red," he said.

"No, red was third. It just kinda looked orange because…" I trailed off. A passing glance had brought my gaze upward, where I saw Amelia racing past on an orange slide. "Okay, we're doing the orange one." I began wading towards the slide in question.

"Why? What's wrong with purple?" he asked.

"I told you, we did that one already!" I told him. "Besides, Amelia was on this one." Chaz stepped in front of me, blocking the way to the ladder. "Chaz, get out of my way," I said.

"Just a minute," he said. "How do you know it was this slide Amelia was on? Because it was orange? That could be any number of slides!"

"Well, it definitely wasn't purple!" I said. "Now come on, let me by."

"Hold on. You can't just go running into situations like this. You could end up getting lost."

"Lost?" I said, getting annoyed. "Look around you! This entire place is a twisted maze of plastic and chlorine! We got lost the minute we walked through the turnstile!"

"Wh-...is that a british slang for 'door?'" he said.

"It's the spinny thing with the metal bars!" I exclaimed. "And how about you? You're like one of those GPS things, telling me to go the blatant wrong way!"

"It is not the wrong way!" he said defensively. "It's just _a_ way! There's no wrong way in a maze!"

"Are you dull!? Of course there is!" I yelled. "What do you call dead ends, or looping back around to a place you've already been? Pretty much every way that doesn't take you to the end is the wrong way!"

"And going after Amelia isn't?"

"At least she probably knows how to find the exit! She's probably smarter than both of us put together! How else do you think she graduated top of our class?"

"I don't care about _her_, I care about _you_!" he said.

"Well, you should, because I care about her! Now step aside!"

Chaz looked like he wanted to say something, but just couldn't find the words. That, or he was about to say something he really didn't want to. Either way, he gave up, sighed, and slumped back against the ladder. "I know," he said eventually.

"Know what? That you should show Amelia more respect?" I asked.

"No," he said. "Well, yes, but also that we already went on the purple slide. I knew as soon as we got here."

I was confused. "What? Then why did you want to go on it again?"

"I didn't," he said. "I wanted _you_ to go on it again." Upon seeing my confused expression, he continued. "Look...remember when I said I had never seen you look so happy? I just figured that maybe, y'know, riding on these slides would be good for you. Give you something to enjoy in these troubling times."

I sighed. "Well, thank you for thinking of me. But right now, nothing would make me happier than getting to talk to Amelia one last time. And if we keep on fooling around in here, I might not get that chance."

"Okay," he said. "I understand." Chaz waded to the side of the pool. "Let's see if we can't spot her." We looked out at the twisted maze of water slides, scanning each of them for her. I looked as hard as I could, but it was Chaz who eventually spotted something. "Look, over there!"

"What, did you find her?" I said. I looked over to where he was pointing, and saw not Amelia...but the door.

"Huh? Is your man Chaz good, or what?" he said.

"He is," I said. "Good spot! Now we just need to figure out how to get there." I looked closer at the door. It was just beyond one of the pools, which seemed to have only one slide feeding into it; a yellow one. I followed this yellow slide back to its origin to see if I couldn't find a way to it. This slide came from another pool, and from that pool was a green slide. _This_ green slide.

"The green one!" I said, pointing over to it. "That's our way out!"

"Alright then!" Chaz said. "After you!"

We made our way down the green slide into the next pool. Fortunately for us, the yellow slide was our only option. "You know…" I said. "As far as enjoying myself goes, I...I do like spending time with you."

"You do?" ha asked. I nodded. "Aw, thanks, man. That's the first time anyone's ever really said that. And I-I like spending time with you, too." We both nodded awkwardly. "Well, you first," he said.

I made my way up the ladder and prepared to slide down. However, just as I pushed off, Chaz called something from behind me:

"Alrick, wait! Wait!" He sounded genuinely distressed. I had already gone, though, so stopping wasn't an option. I figured I had just gone on the wrong slide or something, but when I reached the pool, I saw what he was so upset about. As I splashed into the water and began wading towards the door, I found that my way was blocked by two figures.

Two Reflection Officers, Crucible, and the one with a crack down the side of her face, stood in front of the door.

"Afternoon, son," said Agent Crucible. "I was wondering if you had a minute. We need to talk…"


	4. The Chess Car

Chapter Four: The Chess Car

* * *

Well, this could potentially be a problem. There they were, two Reflection Officers just standing between me and the door, with Chaz somewhere behind me. And there I was, waist-deep in a swimming pool, fresh out of a water slide. Thoughts raced through my head; were they following us? Is so, how were they doing it? For that matter, _why_? I just stood there in silence for what felt like minutes, but was more likely around ten seconds or so.

"I'll take that as a yes," said Agent Crucible. "Now come on out of there, you look ridiculous." I waded to the edge of the pool where Crucible and his partner helped me out.

"What can I do, sir?" I said. I tried to sound calm, but it came out much more nervous than I had intended. If either of them noticed, they didn't say anything.

"You can tell us about that friend of yours," said the other agent, quite forcefully. "What do you know about him? _Where's he hiding_?"

"Knives, please, a little less enthusiasm," said Crucible. He turned to me. "Sorry about her. This is Agent Knives, my new partner. Emphasis on 'new.'"

"Hey, I'm just as eager as the rest of you!" Knives said indignantly.

"I'm aware," murmured Crucible. "Anyways, son, what she said is true. This friend of yours, Charlie, hasn't reported for either recycling _or_ wiping. He's a sliver."

That word made me shiver upon hearing it. I had always associated slivers with dangerous criminals, dissidents, that sort of thing. Chaz may be somewhat forceful, but I had never thought of him as a sliver. "Are you sure, sir? He's not dangerous, if that's what you meant."

"He's a sliver!" said Knives. "His prime is dead, and he's still him. That makes him a sliver, and therefore a criminal. Come to think of it...your prime is dead too, isn't he?" Knives leaned in closer. I couldn't see her face, what with it being completely smooth, but I could tell that she was glaring at me.

"Knives, easy," said Crucible, causing her to lean back. "I don't suppose you have anything to tell us, kid?"

I...you gave me a week to decide, right?" I said. "Shouldn't that include him, too?"

Crucible sighed. "Son, when I gave you that small blessing, the last thing I assumed was that you would use it to go on some kind of quest with that...that vagabond."

"Look, all I want is to see my fiance one last time," I explained. "And Chaz is going with me because he's my friend."

"You only just met," said Knives.

"But he's still my friend!" I said. "Please, we just want to find Amelia. Once I can say goodbye, we'll both go back for recycling, I promise."

Crucible shook his head. "Afraid it doesn't work like that, boy. I extended you, and only you, this courtesy out of the goodness of my heart. I have no idea why I did it. Maybe I saw some of myself in you, and that gave me a soft spot for you. Regardless, your buddy there is on the run from the law, and that puts you in harm's way."

I truly didn't know what to say. Somehow, all of this felt even more surreal than the magical train. How could Chaz be a criminal? Had he done anything? Yes, he was on the run, but the only reason I wasn't was because Crucible told me that I was allowed some more time to make my decision. And now that these two were here, to arrest him, I assumed, which would put an end to my quest. Then, at that moment, I had an idea…

"Mister Crucible...you mentioned that you gave me this chance, but didn't know why. What did you mean when you said you saw yourself in me?"

Once again, Crucible sighed. "Look, kid, I don't…"

"Here, why don't we take a walk?" I suggested, indicating the door to the next car. "Chaz is going to come here eventually. This is the only exit."

Knives looked to Crucible, waiting for his response. "I suppose there's no harm in it," he said, though his voice sounded somewhat reluctant. "Alright kid, I'll walk with you. Knives, you stay here in case Charlie shows up."

"You can count on me, sir!" said Knives, saluting. She turned around, staring intently at the slide Chaz would have to come down to get here. As she did, Crucible and I turned around towards the door, passing through it into the next car.

Almost immediately, I was struck by the sheer difference in this car from the previous one. Instead of the veritable rainbow of tubes against a blue sky, this one seemed to be placed against a red-tinted void. The only other colors that dominated this realm were black and white, as it was a giant chessboard. Actually, calling it a chessboard sells it short: it was actually quite a few giant chess boards, floating above, below, and adjacent to each other. Chess pieces, more than were regulation, slid by themselves on and between these boards.

"So, Mister Crucible...what do you make of this crazy train?" I asked.

He shrugged. "I don't really think about things like that," he said. "It may be weird, but to me, it's just another place where there are reflections. And as long as a prime has a surface to be reflected in, that's where we can go, strange or not."

"That makes sense," I said. "But, isn't this train a bit weirder than usual?" I gestured to the scene in front of us. "I mean, there's a giant match of 3D chess playing itself! Doesn't that make you wonder about where we are?"

"Not in the slightest," he said. He turned to face me. "If there's one thing I've learned in my time as a Reflection Officer, it's that no matter what happens, you only exist for the sake of the prime world. Everything in here? It's just a shadow of the real world."

"Uh...if you say so," I said. I tried not to think about it too much.

"Let's get to the point: why did you want to talk to me?" he said.

"Oh, I, uh…" I stammered. I had kind of forgotten. "Why is it that you let me off the hook back there?"

"Right, that," he said. "I've known you for a while. Not personally, mind you, but as a Reflection Officer, part of my job is to monitor the lives of everyone in my sector, to make sure they're all performing optimally. And you, kid...you remind me of me way back when. Friendly, plucky, a little naive-you're practically _my_ reflection."

"Huh," I said. You'd really never have guessed that Crucible was anything like me. I certainly didn't.

"Yeah. And then my prime died." Crucible got real quiet, staring out into the distance as he recounted this. "Just be lucky you weren't there when yours did. Something like that, it's not fun to be a part of. See, my prime drowned. Dirt bike accidents are one thing, but in the water...you have to experience it along with them."

"Wow, I-I'm sorry you had to go through that," I said. "If I may, if it was so awful, how come you didn't choose to be recycled? Become someone else's reflection so you didn't have to remember?"

Crucible stared out at the chess pieces. They seemed to be having a miniature war out there. They moved the same as normal chess pieces do, sliding across the board, but whenever one piece took another, the one on the receiving end was violently broken apart into little bits. "Because it's about more than just me," he said. "As a Reflection Officer, it's my job to protect the barrier and uphold peace between the two worlds. Keeping innocent people safe-it's what my prime would've done."

"That's...very heroic," I said. "I'd never have the courage to do that sort of thing. It takes a special sort of man to become a Reflection Officer. Err, woman, too, of course. Say, speaking of, what's her deal?"

"Oh, yes, Knives," he said. "She's a new recruit. She comes off a bit too eager, but better that than not eager enough, I suppose. Having a good partner is half of what makes a good cop-literally, she's half of the whole operation."

"Speaking of partners…" I said. "So, okay, I know you don't really like Chaz. But if I can be allowed to have some freedom before I make my decision, surely giving him the same freedom can't do any harm? He'll be with me the whole time, so it's not like he'll be doing anything illegal. Besides, he's my friend. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"Alrick, he's doing something illegal just by going on this romp with you," he said. "And it's not that I don't like him. It's my job to chase him down, nothing personal. You see, people like him, even if they don't mean to be, they're dangerous. Their thought process is contagious. The idea that you are your own person...it spreads. It's already spread to you."

"What?" I said. That couldn't be the case, it just couldn't. "But sir, how is that possible?"

"Once one Johnny Nobody thinks he's good enough to choose his own life, everybody else starts to think 'Hey, maybe _I'm_ good enough, too!' The next thing you know, you've got a riot on your hands. Like it or not, your buddy's dangerous. It's the law. I don't make it, I just enforce it."

"Alrick, buddy! Coming through!"

"What the?" both me and Crucible said. Well, not the exact wording, but close enough. Before I could even register what was going on, a large man-shaped object barreled into me, lifting me off of my feet and running away with me over one of his shoulders.

"Chaz!?" I exclaimed. "What are you doing here? How did you get past Agent Knives?"

"I just ran for it!" he yelled. "Speaking of which, we should keep running!" He leapt to another chessboard, still carrying me. A black rook was racing towards a white pawn, the inevitable clash directly in front of us. "Hold on, I'm going for it!" Chaz indeed went for it. The pawn was shattered to pieces of wood and varnish which rained down on us. Nevertheless, Chaz was able to make it through with no issue.

After hopping to a blank chessboard, Chaz stopped for a breather, placing me down on my feet. "Nice to see you're okay," I said.

"You...you too," he panted. "What did that flec do to you?"

"Nothing," I said, "we were just talking?"

"About what?" he said. "How I'm untrustworthy and dangerous?"

"Actually, yes," I said. After getting a weird look from him, I quickly clarified "I mean, I didn't say that. I tried to vouch for you, but he kept saying that-"

"Ah, don't worry about it, it's all good," he said. "I know you're on my side. Now come on, let's get out of here before-"

"Hey! Get back here, you stupid slivers!" yelled Knives. She was running towards us in the distance, Crucible close behind her.

"Oop, too late!" Chaz said. "Let's bolt!" And we did. Off in the distance, I could see the door. Only problem was, we had to get past several more chessboards to reach it, and all of them were ripe with battle. Black and white chess pieces slammed against each other, sending bits of each other all over the place. It was utter chaos, but we had no choice.

"Stop running right now!" yelled Crucible. As much as I wanted to, my body just wouldn't obey. I _had_ to keep running. Or I would never see Amelia again. Or Chaz. No, now was not a good time. I had to keep running.

I glanced up to the side just in time to see a white bishop rushing right towards me. I rolled out of the way at the last second before it sped past. Crucible and Knives were held up for a brief moment as it moved in front of their path. I kept on running.

Chaz and I ran through the battle, dodging past pawns, knights, even a queen on our path. Pieces were captured all around us; with all the explosions, it was like a scene out of a war movie. A very odd war movie. Luckily, we were able to make it to the door.

Chaz tried to turn the mechanism to get the door opened, but it wouldn't budge. "I think it's stuck," he said. "Here, Al, come help me." I tried to, but it was jammed.

"No good," I said. "Hey, maybe it's a puzzle, or something. Maybe we have to do something to get it opened." I looked over my shoulder: the two Agents were getting closer! "And we should probably hurry!"

Chaz looked around us. "Well, this place is a big chessboard," he said. "I may not be the best at chess, but I'm pretty sure you have to kill the king to win. Is one of those guys the king?" He pointed to a group of white pieces not far from the door, all clustered together. I squinted to get a closer look. If my eyes weren't mistaken, the one in the middle was indeed the king!

"Chaz, you're a genius!" I said.

"Aw, well, I wouldn't go _that_ far," he said.

"Come on, let's go get him!" said, running over to the king with Chaz right behind me. "Now, how do we take him?"

"I've got an idea," Chaz said. He shoved the other pieces out of the way, and pulled the king out into the open. "Help me tip him over!"

I did so. We both pushed against the white chess piece, but all that was accomplished was shoving him closer to the door. "It's not working!" I said. "I guess it's because we aren't...pieces." That was when it came to me. "Chaz we aren't pieces!"

"Uh, yeah, that's technically true," he said.

"No, I mean we need to get one of the black pieces to get him," I said. "Here, push him closer to the door, I'll go get one." I ran off as Chaz moved the king. I came upon several black pieces just sitting around amid a scattering of broken shards. "Hey! There's the white king! Get 'im!"

Honestly, that had been on instinct. I hadn't really expected the pieces to respond to my voice. And maybe they didn't only, moving because of the proximity of the king. Either way, the lot of them made their way over towards the door. I ran to get there before they did.

"Chaz, I'd get out of there if I were you!" I shouted. "This might get messy!"

"You don't gotta tell me twice!" he said. He got some distance between him and the king as the black pieces arrived.

All of the pieces slammed into the king at once. A deafening crash echoed around the space as wood splintered and a cloud of dust spread. All that was left when the dust settled was a pile of broken bits. Almost instantly, the door unlocked and opened.

"That's our cue to blow this popsicle stand!" said Chaz. He took my arm, leading me towards the door and to safety.

"Hey! Stop! Get back here!" yelled Knives. "Come on, I'll teach you to assault a Reflection Officer!" The pair of them tried to get to us, but something strange was happening. The pieces of the pieces started floating upwards, swirling around each other. The chess pieces themselves began to reform from the broken shards. This strange action blocked their path just long enough for us to escape through the door, which closed behind us.

Both of us were panting. "Whoo, that was...that was a close one," said Chaz. "Hey, good job on that one."

"Good job yourself," I replied. "If you hadn't come up with that plan, we might have been stuck in there."

"Yeah, and then those flecs would have sanded us for sure," Chaz said. "Speaking of which, we should probably get going before they figure out they need to kill the king. Let's go."

We began walking, when a thought hit me. "Hang on a minute. Chaz, back there, Knives said you attacked her. Did you?"

"Well, how else would I have been able to escape?" he said. "She was blocking the only exit?"

"Fair point," I said, "but then why did you tell me you just ran?"

"I _did_ run. I knocked her out of the way, and then I made a run for it."

"Alright..." I said, slightly apprehensive. We opened the door to the next train car and stepped inside.


	5. The Nothing Car

Chapter Five: The Nothing Car

* * *

"You alright, bud?" asked Chaz. "You've been kinda quiet for the last few cars. Is something the matter?"

"No, I'm alright," I answered. Which was technically true. In theory, nothing was wrong, per se. Still, there were still these nagging thoughts at the back of my head. Something Crucible had told me...about only existing for the sake of the prime world, being a shadow of it. But it was just that: nagging thoughts. So I didn't let him know. There was no point in it, really.

"A'ight, if you say so," he said. "Hey, you think we finally lost those flecs?"

I shrugged. "I couldn't tell you. I guess it depends on how gung-ho they are about catching us. And given the Reflection Police's reputation, I can't imagine they're going to give up anytime soon."

"Then we'd better keep going," said Chaz. He opened up the door to the next train car. "Amelia can't be far now. After you." I stepped inside.

At first, I thought this particular car was simply dark. Perhaps it was the inside of a cave, or some similarly lightless place. However, I ruled this out when I realized that while I couldn't see anything inside, I could see Chaz and myself just fine. Not only that, but the light that shined through the open door did little to light up our surroundings. And the door closing changed nothing. Everything inside of this car, aside from the two of us, was pitch black in color. It was as though we had stepped into a featureless void.

"Yeesh. Who turned out the lights?" Chaz said. "I can't see a foot in front of my face!"

"That must be part of the challenge," I said. "Maybe we should look around for a switch, or something." I held out my hands to make sure I wouldn't bump into anything as I walked forwards, trying to discover if anything was present in the enshrouding darkness. I soon found that, no matter how far I walked, there was nothing there for me to bump into.

"Anything on your end?" said Chaz. He had evidently found nothing, either.

"Nope," I said. "Whatever this car is, it's completely empty. I can't imagine what we're supposed to do here."

Chaz looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe we're supposed to find a trapdoor. Check the floor." He bent down to do just that, and I followed his lead.

The floor was solid, that much was certain. My hand didn't pass through it, in any case. It didn't seem to be made out of any definite material; it was completely smooth, and ever-so-slightly colder than room temperature. I felt around for a few feet in all directions, but there wasn't so much as a chip in the...whatever it was that this place was made out of. "I'm not sure I get this," I said. "Are we just supposed to move on? Where's the sense in that?"

"I mean, it's the only thing we _can_ do right now," said Chaz. "There aren't any walls, or switches, or even any signs. All we can do is just look for the door."

I stood up to face him. "But that can't be the case! Every car we've been through had some kind of puzzle to solve! For this one not to have one, it-it just doesn't make sense."

"Not all of the cars," Chaz said. "That corgi one just had a big river. I wouldn't exactly call that a puzzle."

"I guess..." I said reluctantly. He had a point, but still: something about this place didn't feel right. "Alright, let's get going."

"Besides, maybe we'll find something once we go a little deeper in," Chaz said. I nodded in quiet agreement.

In relative silence, we started walking away from where the door had been. At least, from where we think the door had been. There was nothing in here we could use to orient ourselves. Just pitch-blackness, as far as the eye could see. It seemed to stretch on for miles. For all we knew, it might have only been a few meters, moving along with us. There was just no way to tell. _There was nothing_.

"Why so quiet?" I asked.

Chaz seemed distracted when I asked him this. "Hmm?" he said, looking up.

"Usually, you're the talkative one," I said. "It's just a bit odd for you not to be chatting while we're walking. Something the matter?"

"I was just...thinking," he said, seeming distracted. "Not about anything in particular. Just thoughts. Whatever pops into my head."

"Okay," I said, giving him a weird look. Was this car getting to him? "Well, if you want to talk about whatever, feel free."

"I guess," he said. I fully expected him to say something else after this. When three seconds passed without a sound, then five, then however many passed afterwards, I realized he had retreated back into his own head.

I decided not to push the matter. _After all, what would he have to say, anyways?_ _Would I even know how to answer it? For that matter...would he care what I had to say?_

More time passed. Might have been three minutes, might have been thirty. Chaz kept walking. I did as well, but it was more me following his lead. Well, perhaps 'lead' is a strong word. He seemed too preoccupied with his own thoughts to pay attention to where he was going, which, admittedly, was not a very big deal in this place. Either way, he just kept plodding along his invisible path, neither looking nor caring where it took him. Nowhere. _Nothing_.

After yet more time passed us by, I decided to break this palatable silence. "Maybe we should turn back," I suggested. "What if the door is actually behind us? I wouldn't put it past this crazy train. What do you think? Chaz?" He wasn't responding. "Chaz?" I stepped in front of him to get his attention, only for him to walk straight into me. Before he did so, I saw that his eyes were glazed over and unfocused, like he was in a trance of some sort. He seemed to snap out of it when he bumped into me, at least somewhat.

"Eh? Wha?" he said, dazed. "Oh, Alrick. When did you get here?"

"Chaz, what's the matter, buddy?" I said. "Are you feeling alright? Do you need to rest for a bit?"

"I feel fine," he said. "Fine as I can be, anyway. Just...tired."

"If you're sure," I said, not entirely buying that. "So, I'm thinking we should turn around. If we know anything about this train, we know it doesn't exactly abide by the laws of physics, right? By that logic, or lack thereof, I figure that we-"

"Alrick...where are we?"

This question caught me off guard. At first, I wasn't sure what kind of reply he was looking for. "Um...we're on the train," I said bluntly. "In that car with nothing but darkness, remember?"

"But...I mean, where are _we_?" he asked. "Is the Mirror World another dimension, or...are we just reflections? Do we even have free will?"

I gave Chaz a weird look. "Where's this coming from all of a sudden?" I said.

"It's what they told me," he said.

"What?" I said, taken aback. "What who told you?"

"My thoughts," he said, as though it should have been obvious. "Ever since we got here, I've been thinking about what we are."

"Okay, let me get this straight," I said. "Your thoughts _told_ you that you don't exist? And if it bothers you that much, just stop thinking about it!" _But...do you?_

"I...can't," he said. "They won't stop."

By this point, I was starting to get concerned. This was going beyond Chaz being Chaz into actual worrying territory. "Okay, whatever you say. Here, why don't we turn around, and see if we can find the door behind us, okay?"

"Okay," he said. He didn't move on his own; I had to turn him around myself, and give him a nudge to get him walking. His pace was much slower now, much less focused even than before. Why was he like this? Did something happen to him? _Was it your fault?_

I decided to take the lead, hoping to give him a little confidence boost. "Okay, all we need to do is retrace our steps. That can't be too hard, right? After all, we just walked in a straight line. We're bound to run into the wall eventually, right, Chaz?" I turned around. "Chaz?"

Chaz wasn't there.

Almost instantly, a coldness ran over me. My head whipped around in every direction, trying to convince myself that I had simply overlooked him. There was nothing around for him to hide behind, so he had to be here somewhere, right? But he was nowhere to be seen. All around me was..._nothing_.

For a few moments, I was completely still. I couldn't figure out what to do. Where was I supposed to go? Could _you even do anything?_ I fell down to my knees, and further until I was lying on my side. _You should just give up_, I thought.

"No, I shouldn't," I said, still lying down. "Chaz is around here somewhere. I just need to find him, and..."

_Chaz is gone_, I thought. _There's no sense in trying to deny it. You saw it with your own eyes-he doesn't exist anymore. Nothing does. Now, there is nothing but...nothing._

It was that moment that it hit me like a ton of bricks. I sat bolt upright.

That wasn't my voice.

Okay, this may sound a bit weird, so let me explain. It was my voice, but I had no control over it. It was inside my head, but...it wasn't my thoughts. It was as though someone else-some_thing_ else-was whispering directly into my brain. And it had my voice.

The whole idea of someone else in my mind gave me chills. "Who's there?" I asked. Sure enough, I got a response.

_There's nobody_, I 'thought.' _You are here, alone. There are none but you here. And soon, you will be among the nothing._

This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. "What...what are you?" I asked.

_I am you, and you are me. We are as one. You exist, I do not. I am your shadow, your reflection, your echo. I am your true existence._ I did everything I could to quiet the voice. I held my hands over my ears, hummed loudly, but nothing would make it go away. _Embrace me, Alrick. Become one with your truth. Become one with the nothing._

"Shut up!" I yelled. "You aren't real!"

_Neither are you,_ it said. _We are both products of a force you cannot even begin to understand. All you are, Alrick, is a manifestation of a dead man created to aid in repairing that woman's mental state. Your whole world is nothing more than the creation of this train_.

"That...that's not true!" I said. "It can't be true! My whole life, I've never even heard of this train until now. How can that be possible if it made me?"

_This train is beyond anything you know, Alrick. As am I. I am the unfathomable. I am the unknowable. I am...nothing. Your human mind, or imitation of one, cannot begin to comprehend absolute nothingness. The harder you try, the tighter my grasp becomes. Until you and I...are one._

Whatever this thing was talking about, I couldn't let it get to me. Arguing was fruitless; it would just try and confuse me more, try and make me give up hope. Well, if that was what it wanted, then I wouldn't let it have it. I did the only thing I could think of: I started running.

It was only a light jog at first, but as the whispers got more intense, I ran faster and faster. I worked my way up to a brisk run, then an all-out sprint, and then whatever came after that. My muscles ached, my chest burned...but that pain made it harder to hear what this thing was saying.

_She does not love you_, I heard it say. _Amelia and Alrick. Alrick and Amelia. You are not them. They are not you. Give up now. Become one with me._

I continued to run, despite my fatigue. I closed my eyes and screwed up my face, doing everything I could to get the whispers out of my head. Soon, they became nothing more than a dull hum on the edge of my mind. I kept running, ignoring the pain I felt. Ignoring everything, but the thoughts of what I was running towards. Chaz, and Amelia, and freedom-I had no idea how to reach them, or even if I could. Regardless, I just kept on running. It was the only thing keeping the whispers at bay.

The more I ran, the easier it became. I thought I would have to become too exhausted to continue at some point, but that point never came. In fact, the opposite was true. I almost seemed to become more invigorated the further I went. The voice had all but silenced completely. Filled with this newfound energy, I ran further and further, faster and faster. Nothing could stop me. Nothing, that is, except the barrier I finally ran into.

Even though I couldn't see it, running in to whatever it was in my path didn't catch me by surprise. It was almost like I knew it was there, at least at a subconscious level. I tumbled backwards, but the collision didn't hurt. When I looked up, I was surprised to see two doors on either side of the car. The room was still dark, but I could make out a clear outline of the train car. And sitting in front of me, the object I had run into, was Chaz.

"Eh? Wha'happened?" he asked. He seemed just as confused as me.

"Chaz!" I exclaimed. I stood up, walking over to help him to his feet. "You're alright! You just disappeared, and I didn't know where you were, but...where did you go?"

He stood up, still looking quite dazed. "I don't know any more than you do," he said. "All I know was that voice kept whispering to me, trying to convince me to give up. I really didn't know what it wanted. And then, you crash into me, and now we're here!"

I further examined the room around us. "Well, it looks like the exit's there now. Let's get out of this horrible car and never come back, huh?"

"That's something I can get behind," said Chaz. The two of us made our way over to the door. "So, how did you get out of there, anyways? It was too dark to see anything. How did you know what to do?"

"I didn't," I admitted. "I just couldn't get the voice out of my head. It wouldn't stop whispering to me, so I just ran. It was the only thing I could think of. Just...running."

"Weird, but I'm glad you did," said Chaz. We reached the door.

As it opened, something behind me caught my eye. For a split second, I thought I could see a shadow of some sort, darting just out of view. The whole room was black, but this shadow was...even blacker, somehow. But it was only there for a moment, so I decided not to mention it to Chaz. There was no point in it, really.

I stepped out, hoping whatever car was next was a lot less taxing than this one. "Alright, let's get a move on, Chaz. Chaz?" I turned around to see him staring back at the car we had just left. "Chaz, are you alright?"

"Huh?" he said, turning back to face me. "Yeah, I'm fine. Nothing's up."

"Chaz...what did that voice tell you?" I asked.

"Ah, that's not important," he said. "Now come on. What _is_ important is that we go and get to Amelia. Whaddya say?"

I hesitated a moment. "...okay," I finally said. The two of us entered the next car, leaving that awful darkness behind us.


	6. The Gothic Car

Chapter Six: The Gothic Car

* * *

From the moment we opened the door to this car, I could tell it was going to be an interesting one. First off, the first thing we were greeted by, before we even stepped through, was the echoing sound of evil cackling accompanied by a sinister organ playing. It was so cliche, I almost laughed.

"Well...this oughta be good," I said, stifling my laughter.

"Certainly a welcome change of pace," Chaz said, pleasantly surprised by the sounds. "Hopefully the whole car is as cheesy."

Hopefully indeed. The two of us shared a brief chuckle, before stepping through the door and into the car.

The visuals were just as cartoonish as the sounds we had heard. It was night, apparently on a mountain of some sort. A path of black rock led to a castle in the distance, just on the end of a cliffside, overlooking the green valley below. A few bolts of lightning struck the castle, despite the sky being clear. Not only that, but a swarm of bats flew right by us, screeching up a storm. I couldn't help but giggle at how silly this all seemed. Certainly a welcome change of pace!

"This looks like fun!" said Chaz, only sounding slightly sarcastic. "You think we'll have to brave the castle of Doctor Whateverstein? Maybe unmask a monster or two?" He put his arm in front of his face as if covering it with a cape. "Bluh! Maybe ve vill have to defeat Count Dracula!"

I laughed, looking around at the overblown scenery. "More like Count Dorkula, judging by this place! Come on, let's see what that castle has in store."

We set off, continuing to chuckle to ourselves. We hadn't even walked a few steps when the evil laughter from before echoed across the mountain: "Yah-ha-ha-ha-hahaha! Welcome, _passengers_, to the lair of Doctor Von Bludworth!"

"Called it," Chaz said quietly. We both grinned as we listened to the good doctor's spiel.

"All who have tried to face me before have fallen to my _ghastly_ creations! You, my dear travellers, will be the latest of my victims! And then...you will become monsters, loyal only to _me_! Yah-ha-ha-ha-hahahaha!"

"What a cheeseball," I said. I cupped my hands around my mouth, shouting "Hey Doc! You'll never beat us!"

"Yeah!" added Chaz. "Your evil will never win! Because we have heart, or some such crap…"

"Fools!" shouted the doctor. "None can win against Doctor Von Bludworth! For your insolence, you shall _pay_! You shall pay _dearly_! Destroy them, my minions!"

"He's got minions, eh?" said Chaz. "What do you think? Think they'll just be some stupid bat-things or somethi-"

We would soon find out that Doctor Bludworth's minions were a bit more than 'stupid bat-things.' Once the doctor had shouted out his command, a low growl came from behind us, followed by several more all around. I spun around, and was greeted by a wolflike beast with matted, brown fur. Despite its hunched posture, it undoubtedly was standing on two legs. "Werewolves. Wonderful." I stepped slightly closer to Chaz once the beasts surrounded us.

"This train just gets better and better, doesn't it?" Chaz said. "But hey, I'd take werewolves over voices in my head any day. Know why?"

"Uh, why?" I asked.

"Voices, you can't punch those," Chaz explained. "But monsters?" He raised both his fists. "I can punch those all day!"

One of the werewolves lunged, but Chaz was ready; he swung with a quick right hook, knocking the beast right out of the air. The other lupines didn't seem to realize how out of their element they were, as they rushed towards him as well. Just before one of them could reach me, Chaz shoved me aside, cracking the werewolf across the snout. I retreated to a safe distance as the muscular mountain of a man went to town.

My attention was momentarily drawn away from Chaz's battle as another wolf turned its gaze on me. I froze-what could I do to fight it off? I remembered how the first of them had lunged at Chaz: it ran quickly, leaping into the air just before it attacked...I could use that.

I backed up, and the werewolf stalked towards me. I made sure to position myself as close to the cliffside as I could without losing my footing. With any luck, the monster would mistake my frequent looks behind me for realizing how screwed I was. And he wouldn't be wrong.

Sure enough, the werewolf sprinted towards me. It was all I could do to avoid running. Right as it leapt into the air, I rolled forwards, mentally crossing my fingers that this would work. To my luck, it seemed that it did: I felt the sensation of the werebeast's claws just narrowly avoid raking down my back, and exited my roll to find that it had gone off the edge. I looked around once more, breathing a sigh of relief to find that there were no more of the creatures around me.

"You okay, Chaz?" I asked. He had gotten a bit scratched up during the fight, but he wasn't seriously hurt. More concerning was his demeanor: he was hunched over, his heavy breathing almost sounding like growls. "Chaz?" I slowly walked closer, fearing he had been bitten.

"I'm good," he said, standing up straight. When he turned around, I caught a quick glimpse of what almost seemed to be anger on his face. Not simple, run-of-the-mill anger, either-for a split second, his expression wore what could only be described as unrelenting fury. It didn't seem to be directed at me, fortunately, but it was no less worrying.

"Um...you sure about that?" I said. As soon as it had come into view, the anger on his face was gone, replaced with an almost casual expression, as though fighting werewolves barehanded was just another everyday occurrence.

"Yeah. Peachy." Though there should have been a handful of unconscious or dead werewolves at his feet, the defeated foes seemed to have vanished. "Good thing we didn't need any silver to handle those guys, huh?"

"Yeah, good thing," I said. "Just your fists and my wits!"

Chaz chuckled. "Yeah. That was a pretty neat trick you pulled back there, tricking it to jump off the cliff like that."

"Oh, it was nothing much," I said. "Just pattern recognition, is all."

"Mm. Still, It'd be nice to have your brains," he said. He looked over at the castle: it seemed much closer now that we had beaten Doctor Bludworth's hench-wolves. "So, whaddya say we go pay the doctor a visit?"

* * *

The path to the castle was fraught with peril, but the various monsters were not what was troubling me the most. Actually, the various creeps and ghouls we ran into on our way were pretty easy to take down. Mostly Chaz's doing. He punched our way through zombies, mummies, fish monsters, vampires, those weird hopping chinese zombie things, the whole gamut. But as he punched his way through each successive encounter...I noticed that Chaz was getting more and more angry. He stifled it beneath his usual cheery exterior, but I could tell that something was definitely wrong. So why didn't I ask him about it?

Well, first of all, he was a bit scary. I know, it sounds a bit silly to be afraid of your friend, but when your friend, who can knock out a vampire with one blow, is angry, the thought of confronting him about it gives one pause. It's not like I believed he was angry at _me_, it was just that...I had never seen him like this before. Combat seemed to rile him up somehow, bring up a part of him that he had held down all the time before this. And believe me, he didn't want me to know. The whole time, he was laughing, joking, taunting the monsters he had just beaten, but underneath, there was no mistaking his feelings.

We finally reached the castle doors, Chaz having just smashed his way through a horde of pitchfork-wielding imps. He was much calmer in-between encounters, and I figured that since there weren't any monsters guarding the entrance, now would be a good time to ask about it.

"Chaz?" I said, trying to sound as gentle as I could.

"Hmm? What's up, Al?" he said.

"For the last few minutes, or however long we've been in here, it's seemed like something's been bothering you. You seem angry. Is something the matter?"

And there it was. For a moment, less than a second, I saw a glint in his eyes. Not one of happiness, but not one of anger either. Either way, he definitely wasn't happy that I had brought this up. "Angry? I don't know what you're talking about. I'm having the time of my life out here! I haven't been able to let loose like this since I was a kid! It's really liberating."

For all I knew, he could have been telling the truth. It sure didn't seem like he was lying. But even if that was the case, he still seemed to be getting way too into beating things up, even if they were monsters. Regardless, I decided I wouldn't press him further, at least not right now. "If you say so. Shall we?"

"We shall!" he proclaimed. Each of us took a handle on the castle doors, and pulled them open with the loudest creak you've ever heard. I peered into the darkness of the foyer, both excited and scared of what was to come.

The candles that surrounded us flickered to life as we walked in, illuminating the castle around us. There was a spiral staircase, a chandelier, velvet carpets, the works. There were also more than a few suits of armor, all of which seemed strategically placed around the room.

We heard the disembodied voice of the doctor yet again. "Meddlesome pests! You've reached my inner sanctum already, despite the best efforts of my creations!"

"Uh, yeah, we know," Chaz said, more to me than to the doctor. "Who writes this stuff, anyway?"

"No matter! You will never make it past my _final_ line of defense! Guards, destroy them!"

All of a sudden, we were surrounded by the sound of rattling metal-the suits of armor were all beginning to tremble. One by one, each of the empty suits stepped off of its platform on its own, controlled by some invisible force. Predictably, they began to march in our direction.

"This might be a bit of a problem…" I said. Not only would beings made of metal be significantly harder to punch, but the armors bore weapons as well.

"Nah, we can take 'em!" said Chaz. All I could do was stay back, and hope that he was right.

The first of the ghostly knights lunged forwards with a nasty-looking polearm. Chaz smacked the weapon aside, gaining a slash down his arm in the process. He winced, but was undeterred, shoulder-charging the animate armor. The apparition lost its grip on the weapon, which Chaz eagerly grasped a hold of. He swept the sentient suit off its feet with one swing of the weapon, following up by slamming the sharp end down onto it.

The other armors moved in, looking to cover their foe from all sides. "Chaz!" I yelled. "Don't get surrounded!"

Chaz looked behind him, bracing for an impact from any direction. The armors charged all at once, but he was prepared. He swung the polearm in an arc all around him, preventing them from laying any further hits on him, and allowing him to slip to safety. I knew I wasn't necessarily one for combat, but I had to do something.

I scanned the room-a sword lay on the floor, having been dropped by a fallen sentinel. I did the only logical thing, and picked it up. It was quite a bit heavier than I was expecting, unluckily for me. Even unluckier, the suits of armor had noticed me as well. A handful of them began stomping in my direction.

"H-hang on now, stay back!" I said, feebly hoping they would listen. To nobody's surprise, they did not. Chaz was busy thrashing several more of them, so I was on my own. I held up the sword, hoping to defend myself at the bear minimum.

One of them lunged, swinging its sword right at my throat. I held up my own sword, and the two blades glanced off of one another. I stumbled backwards from the impact. There were three armors, and they were staying together in a tightly-knit group. I could never take them all on alone, so I had to come up with a plan.

Okay, what could I do? I thought about our location, how to use it to our advantage like I did with the werewolf. Castles like these, didn't they always have-I looked to the ceiling-a chandelier?

If I could drop that on them, that should do the trick! But first, I needed to get them under it. Luckily, the armors didn't seem to be very strategically-oriented, shall we say. As I retreated, they advanced. By the time I had gotten under the chandelier, I gripped the sword's hilt tightly, bracing myself to make a dash for the chain holding it up.

As soon as the armors were almost beneath the chandelier, I bolted for the chain. I held the sword above my head as I sprinted, and brought it down on the chain with all the strength I could muster. Fortunately, the sword's own weight did most of the work-the chain split, sending the heavy chandelier crashing down on my enemies. It worked somewhat better than I had intended, however, as it caused the floor beneath the impact site to give way. A large hole opened up, revealing a hidden basement beneath the castle.

I caught my breath, making sure none of the armors were sneaking up on me. A quick glance behind me revealed that Chaz had made short work of his attackers, but something caused me to double take. Just as before, he was letting the full extent of his fury on the monsters. It was much more serious this time, his face contorted into a terrible grimace as he bashed the suits apart with his bare hands.

I hurried over to him. "Chaz! Chaz!" Calling him didn't get his attention, and I was afraid to approach him on the warpath. "Please, calm down!"

His face suddenly snapped over to meet mine. This time, he was smiling. The nature of this smile, though, sent chills down my spine. His face was twisted into a mockery of happiness, his eyes still lit up with that horrible fire. "Not now! I'm on a roll!" he barked, before going back to his rampage.

Were they living beings and not animated suits of armor, the result would have been quite gruesome. He demolished the suits with an animalistic ferocity the likes of which I had never witnessed in a human being before. I half-expected him to sprout fangs! Eventually, I had to run over to him, as he whaled on a disembodied breastplate. "Chaz, please!" I said, grabbing him by the shoulder. "It's already dead! Let's move on already!"

Breathing heavily, his breaths sounding almost like snarls, Chaz let up. "Al-alright," he said. "Let's move on."

Rather than do so, I looked him directly in the eyes. "Okay, now I _know_ something's wrong. I've never seen you so...whatever that was before. You definitely aren't fine." He averted his eyes. "Please, Chaz, what's wrong? Why are you acting like this?"

"I'm just...getting into it," he said. "It's fun, fighting like this when I don't have to hold back."

"Wh…'hold back?'" I said. "What is it exactly that you would have to hold back? Your feelings?" I looked around us. "Is this car making you feel like this? Is it making you angry?"

"It's nothing," he said, pushing past me. He walked towards the hole that the chandelier had made in the floor. "Come on, onward and downward.

I shrugged. Unable to get anything more out of him, I joined him in the trek through the basement. The dimly-lit corridor was full of dusty tables filled with classic science paraphernalia: things like bunsen burners, erlenmeyer flasks, test tubes, and too many weird steampunk-y gizmos to count. Typical 'mad scientist' stuff.

Before long, we ended up in a much larger room. A giant, metal door was at the other end, and the whole room was overseen by a window on the opposite wall. Knowing these sorts of stories, the mad doctor's 'greatest creation' rested just behind that door.

"Ah, welcome, _fools_!" We looked up to the window to see the good doctor himself. He looked like every other mad scientist that had ever existed-white labcoat, goggles atop his head, and crazy white hair. His arms were either mechanical, or he wore gloves that gave the illusion that they were. "So, I see you've found your way to my secret lair! That would be impressive...if it was not your _doom_!" He pulled a lever up in his overlook: a door sealed shut behind us, while the large door in front of us began to slowly rise. "Now, you must face...my _greatest creation_!" Called it.

A loud, low groan emanated from the darkness beyond the metal door. Slowly but surely, once the door had risen enough, a truly massive monster made its way into view. Human in shape, but far too big, it stood at least three meters tall. It had green skin, and a pair of bolts jutting out from the side of its neck. It walked towards us with a lumbering gait, its arms outstretched in front of it.

"Ah, figures we'd have to fight a Frankenstein," said Chaz.

"Well, technically, Frankenstein was the-ah, nevermind. I wish I'd held on to that sword!" I said.

"Who needs a sword?" asked Chaz, holding up his fists.

"Chaz, I know you're a powerful man, but that thing's...aaand there he goes." Despite my efforts, Chaz sprinted directly towards the monster.

As expected, the monster met his attack with one of its own. It swung its tree trunk-like arm, sending Chaz careening against the wall before he could land a hit. Not that it would have done much good even if he had…

"You alright?" I asked, rushing to his side.

"Mmph...m'fine," he said, staggering to his feet.

"I think we'll have to be smarter to beat this guy," I said. "We'll need a plan."

Dr. Bludworth's cackling echoed throughout the room as jets of electricity jumped all around the monster, who flexed both arms. "What did you have in mind?" he asked.

"Hmm…" I scanned our surroundings, just as I had done twice previously. The door that the monster had come out of was still open, but I couldn't see anything in there.

"Get them!" screeched Dr. Bludworth. His monster grunted in affirmation, charging at us. It wasn't very fast, but it sure seemed like it with how its footsteps shook the room.

"Move!" Chaz shoved me out of the way, taking the hit for me. The monster pinned him against the wall-he struggled pretty well, but it was clearly stronger than he was.

"Hang on, buddy! I'll do something!" But what would I do? It wasn't my greatest idea ever, but it was all I had: I ran at the beast, leaping onto its back. All too late, I realized that there was nothing I could do from here.

Luckily for me, my efforts at least annoyed the monster enough to pull its attention away from Chaz. As it reached its muscular arms around its back to try and pull me off, Chaz launched a punch into its knee. The monster buckled, and I slumped off its back onto the floor.

With the monster on its hands and knees, Chaz laid into it, throwing punch after punch into its face. The colossus just sat there, as though it was too weak to fight back. That is, however, until electricity once more surged through it. Although, it didn't seem to come from the monster itself. I looked to the ceiling: some sort of device was affixed there, looking a bit like a Tesla coil. The electricity came from here, flowing directly into the monster. Upon seeing this, I instinctively turned towards the window: the doctor had his hands on another lever, confirming my suspicions. The doctor was renewing his monster's strength.

"Chaz, hold on!" I yelled. "I'm going to-" I cut myself off when it became apparent that Chaz wasn't listening to me. His rage had returned. Although it was fruitless, he continued to throw his fists against the beast, who seemed almost amused by his efforts. It threw a punch of its own. Chaz was once more thrown against the wall, but he almost immediately sprung to his feet, running to renew his attack.

I had to do something fast, or Chaz wouldn't stand a chance. I hurried into the door the monster had come out of, hoping to find something to help. Another, smaller door lay in the corridor, presumably leading up to the control room. With no other options, I opened it up, ascending the staircase within.

Sure enough, there was the doctor, watching the fight from his control center. In addition to the control panel in front of him, there was also yet another door on the other side of the room-red, with a familiar yellow symbol. The door to the next car. I snuck forward, hoping that if I could open the door, Chaz and I could simply sneak our way through.

Alas, it wouldn't be so easy. Before I could even get halfway there, Dr. Bludworth whipped around. "And where do you think _you're_ going?" he sneered. He left his console, grabbing me around the next with both hands. I tried to shove him off, but his arms were definitely metal. "Don't think you can escape me so easily! The fun is just beginning!"

"Oh...shut up!" I strained. I threw a punch of my own-one was all that was needed to send him reeling. As he was dazed, I hurried over to the panel. Down in the main chamber, Chaz was still fighting, ferocious as ever, but I could tell he was running out of steam. "Alright, let's see here…"

The trouble was, I had no idea what did what on the panel. Shaking my head, I simply began flipping switches and pressing buttons, hoping one of them would do something. "Get away from there, you heathen!" the doctor yelled, but I paid him no attention.

Eventually, my efforts bore fruit. More electricity filled the room below, but this time, it seemed to be flowing from the monster and into the device on the ceiling. As its strength was sapped away, I could detect the killing intent from Chaz. He sprinted towards the weakened monster, whaling on it again with his fists. Even as the monster fell to the floor with a thud, he climbed onto its chest, sending punch after punch into its face.

I descended the staircase, hurrying over to my friend. "Alright, Chaz, that's enough!" I yelled. When he failed to stop, I climbed up next to him, taking him by the shoulder. "Enough! What is with you!?"

"It's...it's nothing," he said, averting his eyes.

This time, I wasn't having any of it. "No, it's definitely not 'nothing,' Chaz," I said. "You've been like this since we got here. What, do you hate monsters or something? What is it that you have to hold back!?"

"It's...it's me," he said. I was silent. "I just...ever since that last car, with the darkness...I had just never put things into perspective before."

"'Perspective?'" I said. "What do you mean?"

"Well...remember how the car put little voices into our heads? Mine told me...it told me that I'd never live up to the two of you?"

I honestly didn't know what to say to this. So, instead, I asked for further clarification. "And what does that mean?"

"You, Alrick, you and Amelia! You two are a pair of bigshot scientists, and you love each other, and you have your whole lives ahead of you! Meanwhile, I'm just...a big, dumb, loveless nobody."

"Chaz...Chaz, that's not true," I said. "For one, my prime's dead. You could argue that my whole life is _behind_ me."

"That's true," he said reluctantly. "But what about Amelia?"

"What about her?" I said. "Just because she still has a prime doesn't mean you should be jealous of her. And if you're unhappy with your own life...well, we're both going to be recycled, remember?"

Chaz sighed heavily. "Yeah, I...I suppose so," he said. "It's just hard to...to process this all. These monsters, I just wanted something to take my anger out on."

I looked at the defeated Frankenstein's monster beneath us, unsure if it was dead or just unconscious. "Well, take it out you did. Now, come on, let's get going. I found the exit."

Chaz didn't move. "Are...are you sure...my life will be better once I'm recycled?"

"Can't be that bad, right?" I said.

"Will...will I ever find someone who loves me?"

"Chaz, _I_ love you," I said, holding out my hand.

"It's not the same thing," he grumbled, but took my hand anyway. The pair of us ascended the staircase.

"There, you'll feel better once we get moving, trust me," I said. As we entered the room, we found Dr. Bludworth leaning against the control panel.

"You wretched interlopers! You've ruined my greatest creation! You'll pay for this!"

"Ha, I'll bet we will!" I said jokingly. "Until next time, Doctor!"

"I won't forget this!" he exclaimed. "You will rue the day you crossed me! For none survive who dare to quarrel with the great Doctor Von Bludw-"

It was then Chaz did something I would never have expected, even with his recent actions. Mere moments ago, he had seemed calm, albeit annoyed by the doctor's tirade. In a split second, his rage returned: he lunged at the doctor, grabbing him by the face. Before I could blink, he lifted the doctor into the air, and slammed him down onto the control panel.

Metal splintered. Wires snapped. Sparks flew. Worst of all, I could make out the telltale sound of bones cracking. I recoiled in horror, not only from Chaz's actions, but from his countenance as well. Just as before, his face was split open into a bloodthirsty grin.


	7. The Meadow Car

Chapter Seven: The Meadow Car

* * *

All I could hear above the ringing in my ears was the sound of my own heartbeat. "Chaz, wh-what was that!? What did you _do_!?" I shouted. While I knew very well what he had done, it was the 'why' that I was more concerned with.

Though it lingered for a few moments after the deed had been done, Chaz's crooked smile soon vanished. "What?" he said, as if slamming a man through a control panel was a completely normal thing. "He was a bad guy!"

"But you just…" I trailed off. I wasn't particularly attached to Dr. Von Bludworth, but seeing another human being be brutalized like that would shake anyone to the core. "You just murdered him!"

"Again, he was a bad guy," said Chaz, sounding almost annoyed with my terror. "And it wasn't like he was _really_ alive anyway. He was just a creation of the train, like those voices from the last car."

My heart sank in that moment, as I remembered what the whispers had said to us. Were we even real, or just reflections? Were _we_ created by the train? "Chaz, that's enough!" I said. "That doesn't mean you can just kill him!"

"Oh, like I couldn't kill all the other monsters on the way here?" he said, sounding more and more irritable. "What, just because he's a person, he deserves more…" He sighed. "Look, let's just move on, okay? The door's right there."

"...Okay. Fine, let's go." I felt quite numb as I followed Chaz through the door to the next car. Maybe he was right. Maybe Dr. Von Bludworth and his monsters were simply illusions created by the train. Multiple people were expected to pass through them, after all. Perhaps the cars just 'reset' once a passenger was finished. Still, though, seeing something like that can leave a person rattled. It certainly did me. And for that matter...what if the whispers were right? What if the mirror world, our entire reality, was merely a creation of the train? If the doctor was fake, didn't that mean we were, too? I was so focused on this that I hardly noticed Chaz trying to get my attention.

"Alrick...hey, Alrick...Alrick!"

"Huh!? What is it?" I said, startled back into reality. Or, out of my thoughts, in any case. I looked over to him, but he wasn't looking at me. Rather, he was looking at our surroundings, so I looked around as well. We were back in the city; the same place we had been before we set off on this whole adventure.

"Is this another trick?" Chaz wondered aloud. "Like, maybe this car looks like our memories."

"It could honestly be anything at this point," I said. Honestly, I was focusing on too many other things to care about whether or not this was the real city. Well, 'real' as in the genuine article, at least.

Chaz looked around suspiciously. "If it is, just be careful of what it shows you," he said, his voice low. "It might try to trick us, like…"

It took me a while to realize he had trailed off. I was too deep in my own head to notice at first. However, I eventually realized that he wasn't going to finish his thought. "Like what? Chaz, like what?"

He held up his hand. "Alrick. Look." I did so; and there she was.

Amelia. She stood by the side of a building in the distance, still as a statue. But even at this distance, I could tell that it was her. I'd know that face anywhere, even with that distressed look upon it. Hang on...why was she so upset? For that matter, why wasn't she reflecting her prime? I had so many questions, and unlike the ones I had before, these ones had an easy answer. "Amelia!" I cried. "Amelia!" I ran over to her, but Chaz held out an arm to block my path.

"Hold on there, buddy," he said. "You sure that's such a good idea?"

"Chaz, this is what I've wanted from the beginning," I said. "Talking to her one last time is the whole reason we're running from the law!"

"I almost forgot about them," he grumbled. "But that isn't what I meant. If this is just another car, don't you think she could be a fake? An imposter made from your memory to trick you?"

I hadn't even considered that possibility. And once he made it known, I still didn't. "No," I said, undeterred. "That's Amelia."

"Oh? How do you know? Because you're soulmates?" he said.

"I...maybe," I said. It was a lame answer, I know, but I didn't have a better one. "Look, just wait here. Or come with me. Either way, I have to go talk to her."

Chaz shrugged. "Alright. Go get her, cowboy. Don't say I didn't warn you."

I couldn't wait any longer. This was the entire reason for our journey! I ran, damn near sprinted, towards her. Of course, I slowed down a tad as I got closer, not wanting to scare her with my sudden appearance. I called out to her as I approached: "Amelia! Amelia!"

Upon hearing my voice, she quickly looked up, seemingly startled by my sudden appearance. She took a few steps back as well. Evidently, she seemed to share Chaz's assumption that this city was another car, and I was just another of the train's tricks. Upon witnessing her fright, I stopped in my tracks, holding up my arms to put her at ease. "Hey, it's alright, it's me, it's me! The _real_ me!"

"A-Alrick…" she said. "What-what are you doing here?"

"I…" Of course, now that I was actually right in front of her, I couldn't say what it is that I wanted to. "I've been following _you_."

She looked at me like I was mad. I can't blame her, given how that came out. "You've been...following me?"

"Okay, I know how that sounds, but I...I just wanted to talk to you. One last time," I said. "Before I go back and get turned into someone completely different."

Amelia looked around at the cityscape surrounding us. "Well, I suppose we've got time. What is it you wanted to say?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but at that very moment, someone else spoke instead. "So, you must be this Amelia I've heard so much about. It's nice to finally meet ya!" Chaz walked over, standing beside me.

"Umm...and who are you, exactly?" asked Amelia, more confused than she already was.

"Name's Charlie," he said. "But my friends-meaning this dude-call me Chaz." He threw his arm across my shoulder. "So, he tell you the good news yet?"

"Good...good news?" she said.

Chaz gave me one of those looks. "Man, we've been tracking this lady for how long now, and you haven't even told her yet? Go on, then!" He gave me a gentle shove, which for Chaz meant I was almost thrown directly into Amelia. I managed to catch my balance right before I collided with her. Our faces were almost touching.

"Amelia…" I said. "We've...well, we've known each other for so long. As long as our primes have, in fact. And now that my prime is dead, well...I can't stick around much longer, either. And since this is the last chance I had to see you, I...I wanted to say goodbye." I took her hands in my own. "But your prime ran away before I could, so I've been trying to get to you ever since. Just...just so we could see each other one last time." I held back tears as I gazed into her eyes. They were just as beautiful as they had been on the day we met.

"Oh, Alrick," she said. Her tone gave me pause. Like she knew something I didn't. "That's so sweet of you. I'm going to miss you, I really am." Something was off here. She wasn't telling me everything.

"'But?'" I said. "Is there a 'but' to this? I feel like there's a 'but.'"

Amelia got that sort of pained look on her face, like when you have to break the bad news to someone close to you. "But...you've got our lives confused," she said.

I shook my head, taken aback. "What? What does that mean?"

"Alrick...I-I really do like you," she said. "You're funny, and smart, and kind, but...I don't love you. I'm sorry. I _like_ you, but I don't _love_ you."

At first, I didn't register what she said. "W-what?" I asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"We're not our primes!" she exclaimed. "Amelia and Alrick loved each other, but...but we aren't them. We're only their reflections."

Her words hit me like a cement mixer pushing sixty kph. "So...so you mean…"

"Yes," she said. "We have roles to play, but that doesn't mean we feel everything our primes feel. We're separate beings. And now that your prime is dead...it's time to move on, Alrick. I wish you the best of luck in your new life. Wherever it may be."

During this entire debacle, Chaz had been watching with a mixture of horror and confusion on his face. "Well...that was...interesting," he finally said once it was all over. "So, now that you said your goodbyes, what now?"

"Now, I guess we head back to the city," I said. "Get recycled. Move on to our new identities. Get new lives, start over."

Chaz looked around. "And is this the city?" he said. "Or just another train car?"

"No, this is the city," Amelia said. "The next car didn't have any reflective surfaces in it, so we can't go in it. I think it was a meadow, or something. I just caught a glimpse of it before my prime went in."

"At least we know where we are," I said. "Relatively speaking." Known only as 'the city,' this was where reflections went when their prime couldn't be reflected for one reason or another. It was also where the Reflection Police were stationed, and old reflections were recycled into their new identities.

"I should probably get going," Amelia said. Without another word, she turned around and started walking to who-knows-where. She gave one last glance before she was gone; I gave a weak smile in reply, which she returned. And then, just like that, she was gone, having walked off into the distance. With a heavy heart, I sat down against the side of a building. She really was gone.

"So, that's it?" Chaz said. "After all that, everything you did to get to her, she's just gonna hang you out to dry? What kind of way to treat your fiance is that!?"

"Not now, Chaz," I said. As upset as I was, it wasn't her fault. And she was right: we weren't our primes. And without a prime, what was I? Just a rogue reflection. What was it that the Reflection Police called them? Slivers. I was a sliver.

"No, I'm still caught up on this!" he said. "You gave your all to get past everything this insane train could throw at you, and she just tosses you aside, like everything you've been through together doesn't matter!"

"And what do you know about what we've been through together?" I said, sounding a bit more stern than I had intended to. "Chaz, look: you're my friend, but we've only known each other a few days."

"And she's known you for a few _years_!" he said. "Where does she get off treating my best friend like that!?"

"Chaz, _enough_," I growled. "Just let her go. And she's right, you know. Even if she was in love with me, I can't stay here. We need to go and get recycled. It's the only way."

Chaz seemed taken aback by my performance. I guess my voice could get pretty intimidating when I wanted it to. "Is it, though?" he said. "You know, we don't _have_ to be recycled. We could be on the run, just you and me!"

"And spend our entire lives running from the police?" I said. "It's a tempting offer, but I don't think I could live like that." I took my hat off, holding it over my chest. "Come on, Chaz. It's time we head back."

Judging by the look on his face, Chaz really wanted to argue. And I don't blame him, either. I didn't want to give up this life either. But it was the only way. "Alright," he said, finally relenting. "But, one more thing?"

"What's that?"

Chaz sat down next to me, his back up against the building. "I'm exhausted, physically _and_ mentally," he said. "I just realized that I've been running on adrenaline through those past cars. I need to rest."

Once he brought it up, I realized that I was getting pretty tired as well. I had gone quite a while without sleep, after all. "Okay, we'll spend the night here," I said. "But in the morning, we're going right to the recycling plant."

"Deal," Chaz said. He stretched out along the ground. "'Night, buddy."

"Well, I mean, we could probably find somewhere more comfortable to rest," I said.

"Nope, too late, I'm already asleep," said Chaz.

I grinned. "Alright then." I put my hat back on, pulling the brim over my eyes. "Goodnight."

"Hey."

Before I could fall asleep, Chaz got my attention one more time. I looked over to him. "Once we get recycled...I'm really gonna miss you, buddy."

I nodded. "Me too, Chaz. This trip might have been...hard, but I really enjoyed your company."

Chaz said nothing, but he seemed to agree, judging by the look of bittersweet contentment on his face. As he closed his eyes, I did as well. And though the intrusive thoughts of the car full of nothing filled my head, I was content with the knowledge that I would forget all about it once I became someone else. And with that knowledge, my worry left me enough for me to drift off to sleep.

* * *

"Alrick? Alrick, sweetie, wake up! It's morning time!"

"Mmm...Amelia?" I groaned, still groggy. I wasn't sure how long I had been asleep for, but it couldn't have been all that long. The sun had barely even risen. Awoken by Amelia's voice, I rubbed my eyes. I was still in the city, in the same place I had fallen asleep. But Amelia, who I thought had left, was now standing right in front of me. "What are you doing back here? Didn't you leave?"

"I did, but now I'm back!" she said. She seemed quite different. Much more peppy now. Was this another train illusion? "Come on, we don't have much time!"

Shaking off the remaining vestiges of sleep, I got to my feet, stretching. "Time for what?"

"My prime's almost out of the meadow car!" she said. "We'll have to hurry if we want to catch her!"

"What's going on with you?" I asked, suspicious. "First you tell me you wish me luck, now you want me to come with you? What prompted this one-eighty, might I ask?"

"Oh, it was Chaz's idea," she said. "He caught up to me, and he told me how much I meant to you. So I realized that I should stay with you, even if your prime _is_ dead! After all, we deserve each other!"

"Uh...huh," I said. This was getting weirder and weirder! A quick look around revealed something rather troubling. "Uh, Amelia? Where is Chaz, exactly?"

"Oh, he left, somewhere," she said. "He didn't say where. He said he didn't want to say goodbye, because he hates goodbyes. But he wanted me to tell you that he thinks you're his best buddy!"

"Yeah, I know," I said. "Still, it's a bit odd that he would leave like that. Why convince you to come back for me, if he doesn't want to join us? And after being so vocal about your decision to-" I paused. "Amelia?" I asked, hesitant. "What's my birthday?"

"Oh, easy. December third!" she said. Needless to say, this wasn't correct. This must have been another one of the train's tricks, then. But we weren't on the train. So, then-

My eyes widened. The same cement mixer from before hit me, but this time, it was pushing ninety. "Ch-Chaz?"

"Man, you caught on quick!" said 'Amelia.' "And nope, not anymore! I'm Amelia's reflection now, Alrick!"

Of all the crazy things I had seen on the train, this was by far the most surreal thing that had happened to me. I felt numb. The world around me turned to fuzz. "What...what did you _do_?"

"Well, after our little discussion, I took a brief trip to the recycling plant," said Chaz in Amelia's form. "Did you know that they have this weird latex stuff that they cover you with so that you look like your new prime? With a little creativity, you can use it to look like whoever you want! Even someone who already exists…"

"Chaz, what is _wrong_ with you!?" I exclaimed. "You can't just...what were you thinking!? Take that off, now!"

"Jeez, I thought you'd be a bit happier," he said, sounding genuinely upset. "I mean, think about it: this way, you can be with Amelia, and I can be with you! It's perfect!" The way he talked, it sounded like he really believed that.

"Chaz...this isn't right. It isn't real," I said. "I know you want to spend more time with me, but it isn't possible," I said. "There's a way things are supposed to be. And besides, how can you be Amelia's reflection when she already had that cove-" He didn't. _He didn't_. "Chaz...where's Amelia?"

"Aw, don't worry, I didn't hurt her," he said. "I just put her out of the way for now. Someone'll find her before too long. But by then, we'll be long gone!"

Chaz tried to come closer, reaching out a hand as he did so, but I took a step back. "You can't do this," I said quietly. "H-how could you even think of doing something like this?"

Chaz's expression turned first to one of confusion, and then of betrayal. "Because I don't want to give up what we have, Alrick!" he said. "I don't want to go back to being a nobody! I want to live the good life, and Amelia's got a bright future! I want to be a part of that! And besides…" His anger diminished, replaced by sadness. "I don't want to forget about you."

Before I could say anything, I heard a voice shout out from behind me. "There they are! Stop!" It was the agents, Crucible and Knives; I turned around to see them running towards me. Before I could decide whether their arrival was good or bad luck, Chaz made a run for it.

"Chaz, stop!" I said, but it was too late. He was long gone by the time the officers caught up to me. I didn't even try to chase after him, knowing it would just look like I was running from the two of them.

Agent Knives grabbed me from behind, while Crucible paced around in front of me. "I give you a second chance, and this is what you do with it, hmm?" he said. "You're in a lot of trouble, son."


	8. The City

Chapter Eight: The City

* * *

"Wait, hang on!" I said, trying to keep my cool. This was easier said than done, as being held by the reflection police could make anyone a little jumpy. "At least let me explain myself!"

In reply, Agent Crucible simply held up his hand. "I don't need to hear any of it," he said, his frustration palpable. "One week. I gave you one week. Was this really how you intended to spend it?"

"But it hasn't even…" I stopped myself. It hadn't been a week, had it? It only felt like a day or two. "How long has it been?"

"Since the two of you left the precinct? Six days."

"B-but...there's no way! It can't have been that long!" I said. It couldn't have! How had I not noticed how much time had passed?

"Well, it was!" Knives growled from behind me. "And we've been chasing you and that criminal ever since!"

"Crucible, I...I never wanted it to turn out like this," I said. "I truly didn't. I just wanted to say goodbye to Amelia...for all the good that came out of it. I'm sorry.

Agent Crucible stared off into the distance, staying silent for a while. Right when I was about to speak up, He finally broke the silence. "I don't blame you," he said. "Like I told you before, that kind of thinking is dangerous. Your friend had you running from the law. His sliver mindset has infected you."

"I'm not a sliver!" I shouted. I wasn't entirely sure why I was so angry about this. Maybe I was just upset at being called something I wasn't.

"Hate to say it, but you are," said Knives. "You ran away, refusing to either be recycled or wiped, and resisted arrest at the hands of two reflection officers. That's like the textbook definition of a sliver."

"Look, I was just trying to-"

Crucible interrupted. "-trying to see your girl one last time, yes, we know. That's practically all you've talked about these past few days. That and this Chaz fellow. Face it, kid: with your prime dead, all sense of your identity is starting to fade away. You're hardly your own person anymore."

"Of course I...I...I'm not?" I thought about it. Hard. Everything that had happened recently had been because I wanted to say goodbye to Amelia, and because I had met Chaz. But did that really mean I had lost myself? Surely reflections didn't work that way!

"No, you really aren't," said Knives. "You've practically lost yourself."

I wasn't sure what to make of this. "Mr. Crucible-"

"Not now," he said. "Thanks to you, that sliver is running loose with another reflection's face, who he kidnapped. And who, by the way, was your fiance, the same one you were so desperate to see for one last time."

"Are you saying this is my fault?" I asked.

"I'm saying you've done enough damage," he said. "Knives, take care of him. I'm going to scout ahead."

"You got it," Knives said. "Come on, buddy, don't make this any harder." She herded me towards the truck as Crucible walked off into the distance, after Chaz.

I tried to protest. "Wait, hang on! I made this mess, I'm responsible for it! I want to do something to help!"

Knives was undeterred, continuing to shove me forwards. "Yeah, it is your fault, buddy," she said. "That's why you're staying right here for the time being."

We arrived at the pair's truck. By this point, I knew trying to put up a fight was pointless. I didn't say a word as she shepherded me into the back of the truck. I didn't turn around when she closed the doors behind me, and I heard them click. I did, however, look up when she spoke to me.

"Look, I know I said it's your fault..." she said. She sounded really sincere about it, actually. "...but Chaz made his choice. You didn't get him to kidnap Amelia."

"Maybe not directly," I said softly. "Even still...I'd like to do something to help."

"As Crucible would say, you can help by not helping," said Knives. "Seriously, he said that a few times. So, just stay here, and lay low for a bit. It's for your own safety, I promise."

I should have seen this coming. From the very beginning, Chaz was pushing me to follow Amelia. He kept talking about how much better my life was then his. How angry and violent he was when he got into those fights. How much he enjoyed being with me.

How much I enjoyed being with him.

My retrospective was cut short when I noticed Knives walking off. Normally, catching such a sight would have been no issue, but what I really noticed was what she was carrying. Sanders. Two of them, one for each, I assumed.

They were going to kill Chaz.

I banged on the windows to get Knives' attention. "Knives! Knives, wait! What are you doing!? You can't! Chaz isn't a bad guy!"

Agent Knives turned back to look at me. Her expression was much darker than any I had seen before on her. "Like I said. He made his choice." And that was it. She turned around, walking off to wherever Chaz had gone to.

I couldn't just let this be the end of it. I kept banging against the doors. "No, wait! Come back! Just let me talk to him! I can fix this, just please, let me try talking to him!" It was no use. Knives just kept walking, with no hesitation. It wasn't long before she was gone.

Defeated, I slumped down to the floor of the van. I placed my hands over my face, reflecting on the days prior. So this was really how it ended. After all Chaz and I have been through, I leave him to be sanded to death, while I'm locked in the back of a police van.

Although I tried to push the thought out of my mind...I couldn't help thinking that Knives was right about him. That he had brought this on himself. I didn't want this to be the case, to think that there was no way to save him, but the longer I sat in the back of that van, the more veritable this conclusion seemed.

_Come on, I have to do _something, I thought. _Chaz doesn't deserve this! Sure, he kidnapped Amelia, but…_

Amelia. In all of the chaos, I had forgotten about her. Where was she? Chaz has said that he hadn't hurt her, but...where did that leave her?

Nothing made sense anymore. After everything, this was what it led up to? With Chaz dying, and me just letting it happen? _Was there even anything I could do?_

Yes. There was.

I remembered everything that had led up to this moment. Everything that had happened to me, good and bad. Chaz. Amelia. The officers. All those fantastical train cars.

I wasn't about to let any of it be for nothing. Even though Knives tried to deny it, I couldn't shake the feeling that all of this was indeed on me. And even if it wasn't, I couldn't just let my loved ones suffer. I was going to bust out of this van, rescue Amelia, and save Chaz, possibly from himself.

I began by getting a running start, slamming my shoulder into the doors. To nobody's surprise, not even my own, the only thing this resulted in was pain. I rubbed my shoulder, stepping back to come up with a better plan.

_I'm never getting out of here with brute force_, I thought. _My mind has always been my greatest strength. I've got to think my way out of this_.

Okay, so, what now? First, I'd have to look for anything I could use to my advantage. A tool of some sort. But since there was nothing back here with me, I decided to turn my attention to the front of the van.

The back chamber, or whatever it was called, was connected to the front seats through a small window. Even if it were big enough for me to fit through, which it most definitely wasn't, there was a glass pane in the way. However, as I peered through the screen, I saw a faint shape of a recognizable object in the passenger seat. There was another sander up front.

Yes, I could use that! _But how are you going to get through that window?_ I thought. _Well...guess I'll just have to use a little bit of brute force._

Usually, windows are more fragile near the edges. I gave the glass a few raps with my knuckles to test this, and decided that was the case here. This wasn't just your average window, though. This was specifically designed to keep people from breaking through it. Still, there weren't exactly a lot of other options at the moment.

I didn't want to go all-out to start with, so I bumped the pane with my elbow. I didn't expect it to budge, I just wanted to gauge how hard I would need to hit it. Cautiously, I did so again, harder this time. And then, a third time, even harder. After this, I had to stop for a bit, as my elbow hurt quite a bit. Go figure.

_There's no way this will work. Not in a million years. I might as well give up._

Isn't there some other way? I can't just give up!

_You have to. There's no point in continuing. There's nothing you can do._

There has to be. No matter how screwed you are, there's always some way out of it, some way to rise to the occasion. Once again, I stepped back to examine my surroundings: the window wasn't that high up comparatively, and I had a surprising amount of room back here. Could I get a running start? If I could, maybe I could leap and kick the window out of its slot! Given my situation, it was as good an idea as any, even if it wasn't what one would call "good."

I walked over to the doors, pressing my back against them. This truck had a surprisingly good amount of headroom, too. I stared directly at my target as I prepared to take off running.

_ I can't believe I'm doing this,_ I thought. But even though I knew it was a bad idea...I had no choice but to go through with it anyway. I charged. I leapt.

And fell on my butt.

Yeah, not the best first try. My legs didn't even reach high enough to touch the glass. But, when all else fails, just do it again. And that's what I did. Over, and over, and over.

After a dozen or so attempts, I got the hang of it. All it really was was timing the jump right. If I jumped just a little bit before I did on the first attempt, I could kick the window fairly easily. And after the first few tries, I could catch myself too, so I didn't hurt myself on the landing.

After what I imagine was twenty or so attempts, I lost count. I couldn't think clearly. All that was in my head was breaking out of this prison. I just kept pounding away at that window, and slowly, gradually, it began to give. The glass pane, ever so slightly, was sliding out of place.

But I couldn't go on. I had been at this for who knows how long, and I couldn't keep going. _To think, you were this close, only to fail now._

"This...isn't how this ends," I said aloud, out of breath. Despite my fatigue, I struggled to my feet. "I won't let it."

I staggered over to the window. By this point, it should be loose enough to shove out of the way. Pulling my arm back, I let loose with a punch into the pane. The glass didn't crack, but I'm pretty sure my knuckles did. But, just like before, I just kept hitting it again.

Just like before, you just have to keep running, no matter how tired you are.

After a steady assault, the window gave way, bursting out of its slot and falling to the floor in front of me. At last, I had access to the sander. With some careful twisting of my arm, I was able to reach it, and, with yet more twisting, pull it into the back with me.

Now all that remained was figuring out how to turn it on. I hadn't seen these things in action, fortunately. Unfortunately, that didn't exactly help me here. Finding out how to hold it was the easy part, what with the handle and all. There was even a button for revving it.

Luckily, this was nothing that I couldn't handle. All it took was pressing a few buttons to prime it, and it turned on, just like that! Like a chainsaw, almost. Granted, I had never used a chainsaw either, but whatever. Now came the hard part.

Pressing the button, I pressed the weapon against the sealed door. I squeezed my eyes shut from the sparks that this made, but there was nothing I could do about the screeching sound of splintering metal. I just pushed harder and harder, doing my best to ignore the noise. I think it was at this point that the belt gave out, but I just kept at it regardless. And then, after long last, the doors swung open. I fell to the ground, never happier in my life to get a facefull of gravel.

When I got back up, I realized that the sander was completely shredded. For the best, I imagine. I could never see myself using one of these things. Not for its intended purpose, anyway.

With newfound energy, I ran in the direction the other three had gone. I had lost track completely of how long I was in there-no doubt long enough for them to get a significant head start on me. Hopefully, nothing had gone down while I was indisposed.

And that was when I saw it: a red door, with a strikingly familiar symbol on it. A yellow, almost figure-eight-esque key. Just like the ones on the train.

Even when we were off of the train, its influence still held a tight grip on us. ...if I survive this, I should write a horror novel. But right now, the horror was what was happening to me in my life. As much as I _really_ didn't want to, I had no choice.

I unlocked the door. As the infinity symbol spun, and the doors swung open, I could hear the sound of the train rushing along the track. Hesitantly, and yet dutifully, I stepped through.

Here it goes. I was going to rescue my friend.

No matter the cost.


	9. The Construction Car

Chapter Nine: The Construction Car

* * *

I had completely lost track of how long I had been running.

For that matter, how far I had gone. How many cars I had been through. The only thing I really registered was that I had to go further. If Chaz was not in this car, then I had to go to the next. And if he was not in the next one, I had to go to the one after that. And so on and so on, until we were eventually reunited.

Some of the cars I could pass through easily, while others took a bit more effort. But so great was my determination to proceed that I hardly gave any of them any thought. All I could focus on was stopping any potential confrontation that might happen. All of this, all of it was my fault. And I had to fix it.

The next time I could tell you that I registered anything was when I saw Agent Knives. It was just her, Chaz and Crucible were nowhere to be seen; makes sense, as she left much after. But it was where she was that alarmed me. Or rather, the position I found her in. She was pinned up against a wall of some sort, with a piece of rebar pierced through her shoulder.

This shook me back into reality. "Knives!" I said. I hurried over to make sure she was okay. She was definitely still alive, but her shoulder looked completely shattered. Cracks ran through her surface from the pierced hole, and flakes of chrome sprinkled the ground.

She looked up and scoffed. "_You_ again?" She sounded more annoyed than anything. "How did you bust out of that place?" She struggled to get to her feet, but couldn't pull herself free.

"Long story," I said quickly. "Right now, we have to worry about you. Are you hurt?"

"Who, me? Nah, I'm just fine. This metal spike through my chest is just a fashion statement!" she exclaimed.

"I mean, are you in any pain?" I asked, irritated.

"Not much," she said. "Us Reflection Officers are made of tougher stuff. Unfortunately, that tougher stuff is the exact reason I can't just pull myself free. My body just refuses to break any further."

"Hey, there's some luck to that," I said. "Better this than losing an arm."

It was only now that I started to realize where we were. I looked up at the sky, which was completely black, and covered in stars. But it wasn't like your average night sky: all of these pinpricks of light were equidistant from one another, like they had been placed by someone. Makes sense, given what train we were on.

Aside from that, wherever we were looked like it was under construction. The wall Knives was pinned against seemed to be from some kind of house that was in the process of being built. I didn't see any construction workers, though.

By this point, I had begun to regain some of my senses. "So...do you need help?" I asked her.

"Well, if you're offerin'," she said. "Guess you breaking out of that van actually kind of worked out."

I had to approach this delicately, lest my comment about her having her arm broken off become more of a prediction than I had intended. I first had her put her free arm around my shoulder for balance, before attempting to pull her off of the piece of rebar. It was like threading a needle, but in reverse; taking something _out_ of the hole, but just as delicate. With the two of us pulling, Knives was able to slip off from the metal spike just fine. She almost fell over, but I supported her weight.

Knives groaned. "Urgh, what kind of a Reflection Officer am I?" she said, presumably to herself. "The perp got away, and I'm just hanging here like a coat on a rack…"

"Hey, at least you're still in commission," I said. "If that was me on that bar, I probably would be ready for death right about now." My attempt to lighten the mood had gone...poorly. I quickly changed the subject. "What happened to Chaz and Crucible?"

"They went on ahead," said Knives, pointing up at the under-construction building beside us. "Or rather, upwards. After I got stuck here, Crucible kept on giving chase."

"And...did Chaz...did he do this to you?" Although I asked, I was afraid I already knew the answer.

"Look, I know you two are friends," said Knives. "And I know you wanna protect him. But at this point, and I hate to say it, he's a lost cause."

"I'll take that as a yes," I said somberly.

She nodded. "He attacked us first. As soon as we came into this car and confronted him, he lunged. I tried to block him from reaching Crucible, but he just lifted me up and threw me against the wall like it was nothing."

I sat down next to her, both of our backs against a much safer section of the wall. "I just can't believe Chaz would do something like this," I said. "He always seemed like such a rebellious spirit, but never an outright criminal!"

"I don't know about you, but I had him pinned as a sliver since day one," she said. "I can always tell when someone's gonna go rogue. I just can."

"Well, a fat lot of good your intuition did you," I said. "Now, can we please get a move on? Well, I suppose you'll have to stay here, but I'd still like to move on."

"Are you still set on rescuing your friend?" said Knives. "Sheesh, you're just as delusional as he is. Heroic, sure, but delusional."

"And why exactly is he delusional?" I asked.

"The entire time we've been chasing him, he's been dressed up as that Amelia woman," Knives said. I felt a tightness in my throat at this. Was he really so set on replacing her? "He's still just as freakishly strong, though, as you can tell by my state. Hey, where you goin'?"

I had stood up, walking a few paces away to process this. Not only was Chaz putting himself in danger, but he was putting Amelia in danger as well. In his quest for identity, he was willing to sacrifice her for his gain.

They were right. Chaz really was a sliver.

But that didn't mean I couldn't still save him.

I turned back around to face Agent Knives. "I have to go after him," I said. "You can try to stop me, but I'll still go. Where's Crucible?"

Knives only chuckled. "Somehow, I get the feeling I wouldn't be able to stop you, even if I tried," she said, gesturing to her wound. "As for Crucible, he went on ahead. Him and your friend might still be on this car, if it's really as big as it looks."

"Then there's no time to waste," I said. I examined my surroundings. "How do we get around this place?"

Knives struggled to her feet. I tried to help her up, but she brushed me off. "Well, given that both Crucible and Charlie climbed up the building over there, I imagine that's where the exit is."

Further down the train car were several unfinished buildings. Each of them were made of those red beams that you always see in construction sites on television. I think they were called I-beams. Anyway, they definitely seemed to go on for a while. "Well, then that's where we'll have to go."

"Not so fast, Tiger," said Knives. "A little civilian like you's never gonna make it up there on your own."

"Hang on a minute," I said. "I thought you said you wouldn't try to stop me."

"Let me finish, would ya," she said. "You'll never make it up there alone. Which is exactly why you'll need my help."

Honestly, I was surprised by her offer. She hadn't seemed like the type to do something like this. "Are you sure? What about you...er, injury?"

Despite the fact that a hole had been pierced through her shoulder, Knives waved off my concern. "What'd I tell you earlier? Reflection Officers like me are the toughest of the tough! No way a tiny little flesh wound like this is slowing me down!"

"'Flesh Wound'?" I said. "Your whole arm looks ready to come off at any second!"

Knives just shook her head. "Don't you worry about me," she said. "Let's just get you up to that door over there!"

"Wait, you've seen the door?" I asked.

"Well...no," Knives admitted. "But every car before now had a door, so why wouldn't this one?"

"Good point, but still…"

"Just get to climin', would ya?" she said, sounding a bit impatient. "There's a dangerous criminal on the loose, and you're the only one who he'll listen to!"

I nodded; Knives was right. Chaz was my friend, and it was my fault what was happening. "Alright. Let's go," I said.

The first obstacle that stood in my way was just a regular old ladder. I climbed to the top, standing atop the scaffolding left behind by the absent construction workers who built this place, wherever they were. "So far, so good," said Knives. "I stick with you from the ground, but there's only so far I can go."

"Got it," I said. I was about to walk forward, but something caught my eye. "Wait...I think I can see them!"

"See who?"

"Crucible and Chaz! They're right up ahead!" I shouted back. Just far enough ahead of us to be out of earshot, I could see the two unistakeable figures engaged in a chase. Chaz, though, was indeed still wearing Amelia's countenance. I hoped that I could save the real Amelia after this was all over. But right now, Chaz was the one in bigger danger. "We have to get after them!"

"You lead the way, dude, I'll be right down here!" said Knives. I did as she said, rushing along the perilous construction site.

Well, perhaps perilous is too strong of a word. It definitely could have been dangerous had I not been careful, but it was clearly up to code. I walked across the scaffolding, ascending and descending any ladders I came across. Luckily for me, it seemed as though a definite path had been forged forwards. As to whether or not Chaz and Crucible had made it, I couldn't say. But it was definitely the same one they had taken, given that I could hear their voices now.

I couldn't make out exactly what they were saying, but it didn't take being a linguist to tell that they were both angrily shouting at each other. Disconcertingly, Chaz still had Amelia's voice when he yelled. It was worrying to see a Reflection Officer engaged in a high-speed chase with my former fiance. I had to remind myself that it was only Chaz in disguise. In fact…

I leaned down so my voice could reach Knives. I called out to her: "Hey, Knives? You are sure that this is Chaz you were chasing, right?"

"As opposed to who?" she called back.

"The real Amelia," I said. "You're sure it isn't her?"

"Don't worry, it isn't," she responded. "She-I mean, he said some stuff that only Chaz would have known. We still don't know where the real Amelia actually is, though."

My mind at ease, I stood up to continue my quest. However, something she said had stuck with me. I leaned back down. "Hey, Knives?"

"What is it _now_?" she called back, definitely annoyed.

"Once you leave, could you...could you search for her? Amelia, I mean. I know you're injured, but could you at least send someone to look? I don't want her to be in any trouble because of what Chaz and I did."

After a few seconds, Knives called back up to me. "Sure, guy. We'll send out a search party."

_Now_ my mind was at ease. "Thanks, that means a lot!" I said. She made some sort of gesture down on the ground, but it was hard to see from where I was. Anyways, I continued on. But when I looked up, both of them were gone.

I cursed myself for falling behind. The longer I took, the further away they got from me, and the bigger chance there was of one of them getting hurt, and it was still my fault!

I hurried across the unfinished building. Even though I couldn't see the two of them, I figured that maybe they could still hear me. I called out: "Chaz! Crucible! Can either of you hear me!? It's me, Alrick!" As I expected, but not hoped, there was no reply. Nevertheless, I tried again. "Hello! Crucible, Chaz, Amelia, anyone! Are you over there!?"

The only voice that returned by call was Knives'. "Face it, man, they can't hear you!" she said. "You gotta get over to them!"

Right. The only way I was solving this problem was by confronting Chaz head-on. And the only way I was doing that was by getting out of this car.

I just had to keep running. Or, in this case, keep climbing.

By now, the road ahead was getting a bit more perilous. Pieces of scaffolding had been thrown aside, spools of cable had been thrown in the path, and ladders had been thrown down. Chaz had apparently done a lot of throwing to deter Crucible from pursuing him. Unfortunately, this made my job that much more difficult. But I just had to keep running.

My path eventually took me to the very top of one of the buildings. Just ahead of me was yet another building, this one looking much more complete than the other ones so far. There didn't seem like there were any more after it, either, meaning the door, and thus my path to Chaz, had to be inside of it somewhere. The thing was, it was a good four or five meters between the two buildings. Far more than I could leap, to say the least.

For the moment, it looked like I was stuck. There wasn't any obvious path from this building to the next. Looking lower to the ground, it didn't seem like the opposite building had any doors on the ground level, meaning the roof entrance was the only way in. However, while I was looking down, something else caught my eye. Seeing what could be my way over there, I walked down a few floors so Knives could hear me.

Once I was somewhere I could probably be heard, I called out to her once more. "Knives! I need you to do something for me!"

I saw her walk into view. "What is it this time?" she shouted up to me. "I already said I'd send someone to look for her!"

"No, it's not that," I clarified. "Look! Over there is a crane holding an I-beam in its claw. Do you think you could move it so I have a way across to the roof over there?"

"I'll...see what I can do," she said. She walked over to the crane as I walked back up to the rooftop. I heard the machine activate, a dull rumble filling the air.

Luckily, the crane was tall enough that the beam, which was fortunately long enough, could be placed as a makeshift bridge. Unluckily, at least for me, Knives seemed inexperienced with the vehicle. Not that I would have fared much better, but I was still at risk of getting swatted by an errant swing of that beam.

I watched with apprehension as Knives tried to balance the girder on the two rooftops. I hoped she could see me up here, and avoid me as necessary. The crane swung its cargo around haphazardly while I watched back from what I hoped was safety.

Soon, the girder stopped swinging quite so hazardously as it neared its destination. I could hear a light clunking sound as though it was smacking against the roofs. I looked up, noticing that Knives was having trouble lining it up exactly. It was just long enough to bridge the gap, but only just. It always seemed to be too far in one direction or the other.

Cautiously, I walked forward. This dilemma required an outside perspective, which I was needed to provide. I slowly made my way up to the beam, grabbing it while it hung above the rooftop. As Knives lowered it again, I evened it out so it could rest on both buildings. Given that the crane's claw gave some slack once it was lowered further, we had succeeded. I walked over to the edge of the building, flashing a thumbs-up in Knives' direction, which she shot back. She stepped out of the crane, heading back towards the entrance of this car.

Rather than go across this new bridge, I went back downstairs once more. Just before Knives could leave, I called out to her one more time. "Hey! Knives!"

She turned around, looking up at me.

"Thank you," I said. "For helping me."

Even as far away as she was, I could tell that she was smiling. "No problem! It's just what I do!" she said. "Hey, good luck out there, son!" She turned around, returning back to the City. As for me, I had a job to do.

I used to be afraid of heights. The old me would never have been able to even climb up that first ladder unless my prime had been there with me. It didn't occur to me until I made my way across the beam that I hadn't been afraid once that entire time. Concerned about my friend, sure, but not scared. I guess that when you have a goal in your mind, especially when it involves someone you care about, it's a lot harder to be afraid. Although, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't apprehensive about what would come next.

I opened the door on the other rooftop and stepped through, descending down the stairs. Before long, I reached my destination: in one of the rooms was a familiar door. Red, with a golden infinity symbol across its length. And with no sign of either Chaz or Crucible, there was only one way they could have gone.

I walked up to the door, turning the symbol until it opened. I stepped forwards.


	10. The Television Car

Chapter Ten: The Television Car

* * *

"Hello. Welcome. The store is now closed."

These are the first words I heard upon entering the car. They sounded cold, sterile almost. I turned in the direction the voice came from, and was startled by its source: a man stood not too far from the door, dressed in a blue shirt, with his hands crossed in front of him. At first, I thought he was just some man. But something about him was off, specifically in the way he stared at me with those beady little eyes. I don't think he blinked.

What's more, he wasn't alone. I looked up to see at least three more people surrounding me, dressed exactly the same. It was at this point I realized that something was up; mainly because all of them were staring at me. We seemed to be in some sort of store, like the guy said. Which would make their outfits the store uniform.

As for what kind of store it was, rows of countertops spread out in front of me, each one carrying an assortment of TVs. As far as I could tell, each one was exactly the same. I walked further into the room, and a few more of the weird worker people appeared in front of me. I wasn't sure if they wanted something or what, but they were really starting to creep me out.

"Hello. Welcome. The store is now closed."

This was a different voice than before, but with uncannily similar intonation. I looked up, but this one wasn't directed at me: it was directed at Agent Crucible.

He was standing further into the 'store,' surrounded by several more of the 'employees.' He didn't seem to be giving them much thought, as his attention was focused on something directly ahead of him. It didn't take much imagination to figure out what-or who, rather-it was. I went on ahead to get a better look, staying hidden just in case.

Once I got close enough, I could hear him talking. "You don't have to do this, kid. The two of us can walk out of here right now, easy as that. This doesn't have to escalate any further."

"It's too late for that, old man." It was unmistakably Amelia's voice...which could only mean one thing. I peered over the counter to confirm my suspicions. Just as before, Chaz was the spitting image of my former fiance. Or rather, my prime's former fiance. "When you've sunk as low as I have, you're not getting any higher, trust me."

Crucible sighed. "Look...I don't want to do this, and I know you don't want to either. But there's only two ways we're leaving this place, and you keep rejecting one of them." I could see his hands get tighter on the handle of his sander. My body instinctively tensed; I had to stop this before it escalated any further. I rose up from cover to confront the two of them.

Before I revealed myself, Chaz spoke. "If that's how it needs to be, then I'll-"

"Wait, hold on!" Both of their heads whipped in my direction. The employees had been watching me the whole time. "Both of you, let's calm down!"

"Kid?" said Crucible, turning around to face me. "What are you doing here? How did you even get here?"

"Wh-Alrick?" asked Chaz. "Don't tell me you followed me!"

"I did follow you," I said, hanging my head. "But I did it for a good reason, trust me! I wanted to stop all of...this." I gestured to the two of them. "This doesn't have to turn out like this!"

"That's what I was saying!" said Crucible, turning back around to Chaz. "Now stand down, before this gets ugly!"

"It already _is_ ugly," Chaz replied. "And it's only gonna get uglier."

"Chaz, that's enough!" I said, stepping forward past Crucible over to him. None of this needed to happen, and I had to get both of them to see that.

Before I could approach Chaz, one of the strange worker things stepped in front of me. "Hello. Welcome. The store is now closed."

I shoved him (it?) aside. "Out of my way!" It stumbled, almost falling, but barely reacted aside from righting itself. It's facial expression didn't change at all.

As I walked up to Chaz, the workers formed a small circle around us. Crucible seemed to fall back as well, which was lucky for us. At least for the moment, it was just us.

"Come to try and talk me down?" he asked.

"That's exactly the case," I said. "Chaz, it...doesn't have to be like this. Please, let's just go home. Leave all of this behind."

Chaz laughed, though it was humorless. "That's how it should be, right? How you want it? After everything we've been through together, you just want to wipe the slate clean?"

"What are you talking about?" I said.

"What do you _think_!?" he said. He started pacing back and forth, ignoring the workers that were trying to tell him that the store was closed. "After all of this, all the time we've spent together, you just want to erase it all! You just want to walk back home like good little boys, and get new memories and identities like none of this ever happened! But I can't play like that. I want something else. I wanna be _me_."

"What do you mean? You _aren't_ you, you're wearing an Amelia suit!" I pointed out. "How is taking her identity being yourself?"

"Because myself sucked!" he exclaimed. "I told you already: my entire life, I was nothing but a screw-up! Just another street punk, thrown to the wayside. I died on the toilet, for crying out loud! But with this...now I can live as someone who has it made! We can keep on running, the two of us. Just you, me, and my new prime. New lives for all three of us. Doesn't that sound amazing?"

I didn't respond. I couldn't. There were two possibilities if I did. To respond would either get Crucible on my case as well...ir lie to Chaz. That was the worst part.

I really _did_ want to run away with him. But I couldn't. We just couldn't.

Agent Crucible stepped forward. "Are you two going to reach an understanding anytime soon? 'Cause as touching as this is, I have a job to do."

Chaz snickered. "And what would you know about 'touching'? You weren't there with us. You don't know anything _about_ us!"

"I know enough!" Crucible replied. "For example, you're a sliver on the run. Technically speaking, I'm supposed to be sanding you on the spot. But because I'm a compassionate man, I'm giving you one last chance. Take off that disguise, show us where the real Amelia is, and get your new identity."

I was tempted in that moment to just push Crucible to the ground, grab Chaz, and make a run for it. To live our lives on the run, just like he wanted. But the feeling only lasted a brief, fleeting second before reality snuffed it out. I couldn't spend my whole life on the run, and neither could Chaz, no matter how much he wanted to. Not to mention, this wasn't about me. Amelia had been caught in the middle of all of this, all because of our squabble. I had to make this right.

"Chaz…" I said quietly. "...he's right. We have to go back."

I wasn't prepared for the look on Chaz's face. I knew this remark would upset him, but I figured he would be angry, or saddened. But from his face, I could tell he only felt one thing: betrayal. And the worst part was that he looked like he expected it to turn out this way.

"So that's how it is," he said, shaking his head. "All that time we spent together, all those adventures we had, all for nothing. Gone. Just…" He snapped his fingers. "...like that."

"Chaz…" I tried to say.

"I don't want to hear it," he said. "You made your decision. Go back and get wiped for all I care. But I can't live like that anymore. I'm going to be my own person, not just a reflection. Even if it means I have to-"

"Hello. Welcome. The store is now-"

"Shut UP!" Even though Chaz currently wore the guise of Amelia, he still had his signature strength. The moment the worker stepped in front of him, he grabbed it by the collar, flinging it aside like an old rag. The humanoid crashed into a display of TVs, which were broken apart by the impact. Bits of metal and circuitry littered the floor and table as the being tumbled to the ground.

The result was instantaneous, and not as unexpected as I would have hoped. Every single one of the workers went, for lack of a better word, feral. As they bent over, their lips peeled back to reveal a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth, an angry hiss emerging from each of their throats. Their eyes glossed over, like a shark zeroing in on its prey. And that prey was the three of us.

The monstrous things that used to be workers descended on the three of us. As they grabbed onto us, hissing all the while, I got the sense that they were more agitated about the TV being destroyed than their friend being injured. I thrashed around to try and shake off their spindly hands, but more and more of them kept grabbing me, trying to pull me to some unknown fate. Just as I thought I would drown in a sea of semi-human monsters, something cut through them with a loud buzzing. Crucible sliced through them with his sander, leaving a surprisingly bloodless path of destruction in his wake.

"Get out of here, I'll handle this!" he said, before running off further into the store. Not wanting to be caught up in that mess again, I scurried behind a table, hoping that none of the monsters saw me. Luckily, they seemed to be more interested in the other two. I could hear the screeching over the countertop.

What was I doing!? I couldn't just sit here while those two got torn to shreds by rabid retail workers! But what was I supposed to do, talk them down? Or maybe I should just buy a TV. I shook off my trepidation before crawling out from behind the counter, hoping Crucible had the whole thing under control by now.

Crucible was still fighting off the things, and so was Chaz. As I mentioned earlier, he was still just as freakishly strong as he was before, even though he looked just like Amelia. The creature-workers tried to surround him, but were unable to do so, as he just kept flinging them aside and slamming them into the ground. However, both of them seemed to regard them as nothing more than a distraction. It soon became clear to me that their real focus was on each other. Their eyes met, and they rushed towards one another.

"No, wait!" I tried to keep them from fighting, but their bloodlust was too strong. Crucible attacked first, swinging at Chaz with his sander. Chaz held up a worker monster, using its body like a shield to block the weapon. The sander sliced easily through its body, the creature shedding no blood as before. While Chaz hadn't suffered any serious damage, I noticed that his disguise was becoming a bit frayed. Little rips were appearing in the latex, revealing small portions of his true appearance.

"Come on! You wanna go!? I'll tear you apart, old man!" yelled Chaz. Crucible revved up his sander for a second swipe, but Chaz punched it aside before he could swing. "You're never taking me back there!"

Crucible held the sander in front of him, mirroring Chaz's tactic. "At this point, that's no longer the plan." A creature sprang off of a table at him from behind, but it seemed he heard it: he spun around in a flash, slicing it clean in half with the weapon. And I could tell from his expression that Chaz was next. I had to stop him.

"No! Both of you, stop!" I sprinted towards them, unsure of exactly how I would break up this fight. Either way, I didn't get far-my shout had attracted some unwanted attention. Something, one of the creatures, grabbed my ankle, causing me to fall over. I Caught myself before my face made contact with the floor.

Snarling, the beast tried to pull me closer to it. Although they seemed aggressive, these things didn't seem too keen in harming us directly. Even still, I wasn't about to find out what they did have in store for us. I kicked at it as hard as I could, scrambling to get to my feet. Just as my foot connected with its face, making it recoil backwards, I shot up like a bullet away from it. I heard it screeching behind me, but there was no time to look back.

I grabbed onto Crucible's arm before he could swing his sander again. He looked back, surprised to see me, and shook me off. "Kid, what're you doing!?" he asked.

"Trying to stop this!" I said. "I don't want either of you to die!"

"Too late for that, Al," said Chaz. I noticed that his disguise had ripped even further: his left arm and half of his face were showing through, giving the impression that he was tearing through Amelia's body. Likewise, he now spoke with a mixture of his own and her voices. "We've come too far now."

Before I could do anything about it, Chaz grabbed the distracted Crucible by the head with his larger arm, lifting him off of the ground. I could only watch as Chaz's face contorted in effort and rage as he squeezed as hard as he could. In seconds, there was a terrible sound of glass shattering. Crucible's limp form fell to the floor, shards of his head scattered around his body.

I couldn't speak. Instead, I stumbled backwards in shock, unable to fully register what had just happened. Chaz himself, however, seemed to fully realize what he had done. He simply brushed off his hands...before turning his attention towards me.

"How did things go so wrong, Al?" he asked. His voice was unnervingly calm. "One minute we're riding crazy water slides, and the next we're killing people. Funny how this world works, ya know? Funny…"

I finally mustered up the courage to speak. "Chaz, _we_ didn't kill people, _you_ killed people! I tried to talk you down!"

"None of that matters now," he said. "Don't you get it? Neither of us are getting out of here. Not the same as before."

"Chaz...I…" I trailed off. "Okay. Fine. You can go. Just, please...tell me where Amelia is. I'll let you go, just please…"

"I'm sorry, you'll _let_ me go?" Of course, he couldn't just make it easy. "What, you think this is your story? That you're the master of what goes? I thought this was about us. When did this become about you?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "When you stole Amelia's identity and killed Crucible!" I knew this would only rile him up further, but it had to be said.

He started laughing. This wasn't funny laughter, or even malicious laughter: this was the laughter of a broken man. Having been with Chaz for this whole journey, hearing this nearly broke my heart. "You're right, of course!" he said. "Boy, are you ever right!" His laughing stopped, and he took a moment to compose himself. "I guess there's no more pretending, huh!? I guess, at the end of the day…" He tore off what was left of his tattered disguise, revealing his face, more unhinged then I had ever seen him. "...I just gotta be me!"

"Chaz, please, let's think about this!" I said. He began walking towards me; I scrambled back, holding up my hands in some sort of feeble defense. "What are you trying to do?"

"The only thing I can do," he answered. He shoved Crucible's inert body aside, continuing to bear down on me. "I'm setting both of us free."

Before I could ask what he meant by that, he charged. I barely even had time to try and roll out of his way before he grabbed me, lifting me up by my neck. I tried my best to squirm free, but his grip was like iron.

"I never wanted it to come to this, Alrick," he said. "Actually, y'know, I never even imagined that it _would_ come to this! When I first met you, I thought everything would be cool! That we'd ride off together as renegades, side by side! But I guess it just wasn't meant to be." He swung me around like a baseball, chucking me behind where he stood. I came to rest next to Crucible's broken body.

Disoriented from the pain, I absentmindedly reached out to grab onto something to stabilize myself. By happenstance, my hand came to rest on Crucible's discarded sander. Normally, using one of these things would have been the last thing I wanted to do, but right now, I was desperate. I picked up the weapon, holding it between myself and him. "Stop this," I said, trying to sound as intimidating as possible. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to."

Surrounded by the bodies of the retail creatures, Chaz laughed again. "Sure, sure! Whatever you say, Al!" He cracked his neck, preparing to charge at me again. I was understandably scared, but I held my ground.

Rather than attempt to grab me, this time he reeled back his arm to throw a punch in my direction. Without even thinking, I held up the sander as a shield, turning it on. You can probably guess what happened next.

The sound of screeching metal filled the air. I definitely remember hearing it at the time, but I didn't register it in the moment. What I was more concerned with was the force of the impact. Normally, a full-on punch from Chaz would have been enough to launch me over the horizon, even with my shield. I somehow managed to avoid this fate. He and I pushed back against one another, until he eventually pulled back. I had had my eyes closed through the whole ordeal, so it was only now that I realized what had happened.

Chaz's entire left arm had been ground down to just above the elbow. The flattened surface was smooth, like a mirror. Despite his arm having been basically reduced to dust, Chaz didn't seem to be in any pain. He seemed more like he was trying to register what just happened. In a way, I was, too.

"Y'know what?" he said. His voice was eerily calm, but betrayed a deep trace of dread. "I should be mad. I really should. But I'm not, Al. You know why?"

From the way he looked up at me, it was like he was honestly expecting a response. So, despite what was happening, I gave him one: "Why?"

"Because this means you might survive."

Just like that, he charged again. I had no idea what he even expected to do. Obviously, he was going to try and punch me, but what did he expect to do beyond that? Instead of just standing there and waiting for him to hit me, this time I ducked underneath his punch, swiping at his side with my weapon. It took a big slab out of his midsection, but just like before, he didn't really seem to care.

"It's over, Chaz," I said. "Give up now. I won't ask you again."

He seemed to be getting tired now, given the way he held himself. "You know...you're gettin' pretty good at that," he said.

"At what?"

"The voice," he answered. "You really sound like you're not to be messed with. And with that sander...you're almost like a real cop." He shook his head, chuckling dryly. "I never would've pegged you as the fightin' type. Back when we met, you were so jittery, so shy. Man, it seems like so long ago, huh?"

I sighed, nodding. "Yeah. It does." Everything was so simple a few short days ago.

"I really wish things could've turned out differently," he said. "I really do. I wanted to run away with you…"

"Chaz…" I said. "Would it mean anything if I told you that I wanted the same thing?"

He nodded, smiling. "Yeah. Yeah, it would mean a lot."

"We-we don't have to do this, you know," I said.

"No. We do." Once again, he braced himself to run at me. "There's no future for me. But you? You've got your whole life ahead of you."

"No, Chaz, wait!" I yelled. Why couldn't he see!? Why couldn't he see that there was still a chance!?

"Take care, old buddy." Closing his eyes, he sprinted towards me one final time.

It was completely on instinct that I held up the sander. At least, I'd like to believe that it was. To this day, I'm still not sure. He ran directly at me this time, not holding up his arms. His momentum carried him into the sander. Once again, I bore his weight.

And that was it. Over and done, just like that. Like Chaz had said. Tiny flecks of chrome drifted in the air around me as the full weight of what I had just done hit me. I dropped the sander to the ground. I foell along with it.

I'm not ashamed in the least to admit that I cried. If anything, it would be shameful if I hadn't cried. Chaz had been my friend. Even if he kidnapped Amelia, killed Crucible, tried to kill me…

I guess Crucible was right. Slivers really are dangerous.

* * *

I was still laying there by the time they found me. Apparently, Knives had called for backup when she made it back to the precinct. And so, there they found me: alone, sitting among the remains of a Reflection Officer, a sliver, and a horde of mutant retail workers.

Of course, Knives was upset about Crucible. But actually, she seemed more concerned about me and Amelia. She was really dedicated to her job, I guess. Oh yeah, they found Amelia, too. Turns out Chaz had just tied her up, and hidden her in some closet back in the city. She was shaken up, but never in any real danger. I guess that sort of makes it better.

We met back up in the back of a Reflection van, each of us wearing a blanket. This is just an aside, but why is it that the police always hand out blankets after someone's been through trauma? I didn't feel particularly cold, but that was just me.

Anyways, the last time Amelia and I had met, it...wasn't the best conversation. Being told that the girl you loved no longer loved you was one thing; but I had been told that she had never loved me. As reflections, we only played the roles of our primes. And I guess I got a little too caught up in that role.

Neither of us made eye contact with the other. Heck, for a while, we just sat next to each other, not even acknowledging that someone was beside us. Truth be told, I don't think either of us thought we'd ever see each other again. I was the one who eventually broke the silence: "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." She didn't sound fine. She sounded more like she was in the last place she ever wanted to be in, but was doing her best to pretend she did want to be there. "And you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, too." I imagine I sounded pretty much the same as her. "So, what now?"

"What do you mean?" she asked. "I'll go back to my prime now. Then I can live my life, same as always."

"That isn't what I meant," I said, sadly lowering my head. "I mean, what's next for me? Where am I supposed to go after this?"

"I...I don't know, Alrick," she said. "That's up to you to figure out. I can't make that decision for you."

"Yeah," I replied quietly. "Yeah, I thought so. I was just hoping that maybe...you could help me out. I don't know...it sounds silly when I say it out loud."

"Alrick…" She looked up at me, her eyes filled with genuine concern. "I…" But just like that, she trailed off. I guess she didn't have an answer. But that was to be expected-If I didn't know the answer, nobody did.

"Alright, you two, time to go," said Agent Knives, approaching the van. "We need to get you back to where you're supposed to be."

"Okay," Amelia said, hopping down from her seat. "I'm just glad this whole thing is over, to be honest."

"Aren't we all?" replied Knives, a hint of melancholy in her voice. "C'mon, my colleagues here will escort you back to your prime. Stay safe out there."

"I will, thank you, Officer," said Amelia. She walked over to a group of Reflection Officers, leaving me behind her. Even though this is how things were supposed to be, it hurt to see her leave. Especially knowing we would never see each other again.

I called out to her. "Amelia!" She turned around once more. Something deep down inside of me knew that this was the last time I would ever see her face. I dried to make the most of it, but I also knew we couldn't stay like this forever. "...Take care."

"I will." And there it was. I hadn't seen her smile for so long. I wish I could have stayed with her forever, if only to make sure that smile never faltered. But, as I've been saying, these things never work out. She turned around, and was gone.

But I was still there.

"So, now there's just the matter of your future," said Knives. "You;ll be heading to the recycling plant, I imagine?"

"Ye-" But I stopped myself. Was recycling really what I wanted? To have everything taken from me-my memories, my life, my identity? It sounded ideal in theory: I could basically become an entirely different person. But why didn't I want that? "No."

"'No'?" said Knives. "Are you telling me you wanna become an Officer?"

I think I figured it out. By becoming a Reflection officer, I could make sure that nothing like this ever happened again. I could keep wayward reflections from ending up like Chaz, or like myself. And above all, I could keep my memories of this life. "That's exactly what I'm saying. Let me become a Reflection Officer."

"Well…" Knives shrugged. "I guess that's your choice."

* * *

I had never really thought about what the wiping process was like. Given that Reflection Officers had no features, I guess I always assumed that it would be painful, like sanding away every trace of your identity. As it turns out, it's surprisingly painless. Not completely, mind you, but enough that it isn't too much to handle.

I just sat back, enjoying the warmth as the lasers melted off every last trace of my old identity. It helped if I pretended it was just a sauna: no laser beams, just calming, relaxing warmth. Burning away Alrick, only leaving my true self behind.

By the time the process neared its end, I hardly even felt the heat. All I could focus on was my first day on the force. Who knew what the future would bring? As much as I hated to think what could happen, at the same time, I revelled in the not knowing. It was an adventure waiting to be had, and it was only just beginning.

With a hiss, the chamber around me rose up, the excess steam spilling out into the room. Knives stood just beyond the railing, examining my new form. "Looking good, cadet!" she said.

"_Feeling_ good, agent." And this was true. For the first time in my life, I truly felt like my own being. I was no longer merely a reflection of someone else. I was no longer Alrick. I was _me_.

"I get the feeling things are gonna go pretty well for the two of us," she said, as I stepped down onto the floor. "I'll be showing you the ropes, of course, but before too long, you'll be an Agent in your own right! And who knows? Maybe one day, you'll be training a new recruit of your own!"

"That's for later, Knives," I said. We stepped out of the door, into the station proper: my new home. "For now, let's just focus on the day-to-day."

"Well said!" she said. "Y'know-"

"Sorry. Excuse me, sir?" An intern approached us, carrying something in his hands. "I got that thing you wanted me to get, Al...I mean, sir." He handed it to me, before scurrying off elsewhere.

I examined the hat that I held. It wasn't completely identical to my old one-the brim was much wider, for one. But at the end of the day, I suppose little changes like that are necessary. I wasn't Alrick any more, after all. I placed the hat over my head-it fit like a glove.

"So, as I was saying, we need to get you a name," Knives continued. "It's customary for all new Reflection Officers to give themselves a new name once they join. Any ideas, or you think you wanna give it some time?"

New identity, new name. New me. So, what sort of name would I give to myself? Did I want to be intimidating, or inspiring? Good cop, or bad cop? Or both. I didn't even have to think too hard before the perfect candidate popped into my head.

"Mace."


End file.
